Missing You
by Tender Falling Rain
Summary: Complete! After another failed wedding Ranma and Akane go their separate ways and take a trip to clear their heads. Who would have guessed they'd both end up in the same place, though? Will they meet up and make up or will the time apart be permanent? R/R
1. Leave You Behind

A/N: If anyone's ever watched Love Hina, I got the idea for this story from the episode where Naru and Keitaro both leave on a trip to Kyoto. After they bump into each other, they both break their glasses and don't recognize each other because they can't really see. Anyway, they spend some time together and actually get along pretty well. Until they get their glasses fixed... Anyway, I started wondering how Ranma and Akane's relationship would've been different if they hadn't gotten off to such a bad start. Therefore I decided to give them a chance to meet all over again! 

This is just the first chapter. I'm not sure how many more there will be, but don't worry, it shouldn't take me too long to get the next few chapters up because the whole thing's pretty much finished. Originally I had planned to post the whole thing together, but it was just too long and so I decided to break it up a little bit. Since this is the first chapter it's not all that exciting because it's mostly setting the scene, but don't worry, it'll get better in upcoming chapters. Anyway, enjoy, review and look forward to more!

* * * *

Akane sighed as she shut her suitcase. She picked up a white hat with a blue ribbon and straitened it on her head, pulling the rim down so that it hid her eyes while looking in the mirror. Smoothing the wrinkles out of her pale blue-checkered skirt she gave her reflection a weary smile. The knee length cotton skirt and white blouse were a bit of a new style for her, and she felt awkward in the unfamiliar clothes. However, she needed to change her normal clothes for something different so that she could get out of the town without being recognized. She turned away from the mirror and picked up a blue open sweater and draped it over her shoulders. Grabbing her suitcase she realized she was probably about as ready as she would ever be. She took a deep breath and opened her bedroom door, carefully peaking around the corner to make sure no one was there. 

_ "That's strange,"_ she thought. _"I wonder where everyone is today? Oh well, I guess it's probably for the best that no one's here."_ With her bag in hand, she made her way out of the room. As she reached the stairs, she glanced a little regrettably at the room that Ranma shared with his father but continued down the stairs anyway, refusing to be deterred from her goal. 

After making her way downstairs, she quietly slipped out of the house, closing the door behind her. Shortly after she had left, a curious Ranma poked his head out of the door to his room. _"That's funny,"_ he thought. _"I could've sworn I heard the front door. But it doesn't seem like anyone's home now."_ He shrugged and decided he must just be nervous as he poked his head back into his room. 

Akane had only gotten a few steps before realizing that she had forgotten to leave her note where someone could find it. She rushed back and opened the door to the house very quietly. She made her way back up the stairs to her room, refusing to look at Ranma's room again. A few seconds after Akane disappeared into her room, Ranma stepped out of his own room. He was wearing the blue pants from the school uniform he had never once worn, and a plain, white dress shirt that buttoned down the front. On his shoulder he carried his regular backpack, which appeared to be a little heavier than usual. He made his way down the stairs and for the door. Half way he but stopped and hurried into the kitchen to find some pen and paper. Meanwhile, Akane came down the stairs again and ran into the tea room. She placed a note on the table and ran out of the room again. However, as she rushed by, the note blew off the table and landed slightly hidden underneath it. This was unknown to Akane as she finally made her way out of the Tendo household.

A few seconds later, Ranma entered the tea room from the kitchen and placed a simple note on the table where Akane's had been moments before. In his hurry he failed to notice the other note on the floor. He made his way to the front door, but stopped realizing he had forgotten something again. He went back to his room and grabbed a blue hat similar to the green one that he would always wear with his Chinese suit. He found a mirror and looked at his reflection as he put the hat on, hiding his black pigtail inside of it. Catching a glimpse at his clothing he frowned. _"I can't wait to get out of Nerima so I can go back to wearing my normal clothes,"_ he thought. When he was finally finished, he made his way out of the room. He spared a look at Akane's room and faltered for a moment. After a few seconds he shook himself out of his thoughts and exited the Tendo household.

* * * *

Akane carefully pulled her hat down further over her face as she approached the ticket booth. "Yes, I'd like one ticket for Kyoto please?"

The man behind the counter nodded and took her offered money and handed her a ticket. Akane thanked the man and turned away with one hand to the brim of her hat and her head downcast so no one would recognize her. The young man behind her in the brown hat stepped up to the counter.

"Ticket for Kyoto please," Ranma said to the man behind the counter.

* * * *

Akane looked at the seat number on her ticket as she made her way down the aisle. "42A," she murmured to herself looking for the seat. She found it and took her seat by the window. She sighed and looked out the window. "I guess there's no turning back now," she thought to herself. "It's only been a week since I graduated from High School. Hard to believe so much could change in such a short amount of time." 

After the first failed marriage two years ago things had calmed down considerably. The first wedding had been a complete disaster, but it got Ranma and Akane thinking about their futures. A few days afterwards Akane was pleased to find that Ranma was making an effort to get rid of his other fiancées. However, his efforts had been futile. Still, Ranma had managed to make it clear to Shampoo, Ukyo and even Kodachi that their constant interferences were only serving to make him like them less. Needless to say they had stopped being so persistent after that and began to act like fairly normal girls. 

Akane appreciated the fact that Ranma had tried so hard to resolve things, even if he was only partially successful. She also noticed that he was making an attempt to be nicer to her, and because of that she made her own effort to get along with him better. This wasn't to say that they didn't have their occasional arguments, but when they did they were notably less violent and spread farther apart. They came to the unspoken agreement that in the let up of chaos they would try to get to know each other better and see if there was any chance of the two of them ever getting married. In the two years that followed they had become a lot closer and even gone out on a few casual dates, although neither would admit that their outings were actually dates. 

Akane smiled at the remembrance of it all. Things had been going slowly for them, but at least they had been traveling at their own pace and weren't being pushed together by their parents. It had taken a while, but after the first wedding Ranma and Akane were able to convince their parents to stop pressuring them to get married and throwing surprise weddings. They refused to listen to the arguments of the young couple until Akane pointed out that they needed to concentrate on graduating High School and that they were already behind in school due to their trip to China and numerous other incidents that had caused them to miss their classes. Soun Tendo, being proud of his daughters concern about her schooling, and Genma Saotome, hoping Ranma would follow Akane's wise example, not to mention being frightened of his wife's threats to let the children be, finally agreed with their children and promised to let the couple finish school and get to know each other better before getting married. In the years that followed Akane had settled into a relatively normal life.

Then two years later came the inevitable graduation. Akane and Ranma had figured that with their main excuse being gone they're parents would push them into getting married right away. What they had not expected was the surprise wedding that greeted them as soon as they got home from their last day of school. If the first wedding had been a disaster there was no word to describe their second wedding. Somehow, even though Akane and Ranma hadn't known about the wedding, everyone else in Nerima did. After Ranma and Akane had been dragged to their respective rooms and thrown into their respective clothes the shout of 'Baksui Tenketsu' was heard followed by a large explosion. Akane ran to her window to see Ryoga standing in the yard with a large hole in the fence behind him. She threw open the window and yelled down at the boy.

"Ryoga! What are you doing here?" 

The lost boy looked up at the love of his life, well, at least one of the loves of his life. He looked as if he was about to say something, but at that moment a shout was heard from Ranma's window. "What do you want anyway, pig boy?"

"Ranma!" Ryoga shouted forgetting about Akane for a moment and looking at his old rival. "We had a deal! You promised you wouldn't marry Akane before I had a chance to talk to her! For breaking your word Ranma, prepare to die!"

"Hey, it's not like I actually want to get married to that stupid tomboy anyway," Ranma shouted back. "And how was I supposed to know they were going to throw us a wedding today?"

Akane frowned at the tomboy comment but let it pass considering she had more important things to worry about. Ranma hadn't called her that for quite some time. Then again, Ranma and Ryoga hadn't fought for quite some time either. The two seemed to have come to some kind of mutual agreement, about what she wasn't sure. Nonetheless they had been getting along a lot better lately and Akane could tell that even though neither of them would admit it they considered each other friends. She wondered what Ranma had done to make Ryoga so angry this time and she wondered more about what agreement they had and how it involved Ryoga speaking to her. She snapped out of her thoughts as Ryoga yelled at Ranma again.

"I've had enough of your excuses Ranma! Come down and face your punishment."

"I don't know why you're so upset, but if it's a fight you want you got it!"

Akane watched in disgust as Ranma jumped out the window in his tuxedo. Being less rash due to her wedding dress she ran out of her room and down the stairs to her back yard intent on breaking up the fight. She may not have been ready to get married but she wasn't about to let another one of her weddings get spoiled by a fight. When she reached the back yard Ranma and Ryoga had already started trading blows. She rushed across the yard and pushed herself between them, not an easy accomplishment in her large dress, and yelled at the two to stop fighting.

"Knock it off you too!" The anger was evident in her voice and they both halted their fighting reluctantly and turned their eyes to her. Despite the anger that was evident on her face, neither of the boys could deny that she looked beautiful in her wedding dress, even more so than usual. But that wasn't the time to think of such things.

"Oh my!" came a gasp from behind them. "Akane, its bad luck for the groom to see the bride before the wedding."

Akane spun around and looked at her older sister. "Kasumi, Ranma saw me before the last wedding too, and I think the chances of us having a lucky wedding today crashed along with the wall over there," Akane said indicating the hole courtesy of Ryoga Hibiki.

"I'm sorry Akane," a downcast Ryoga muttered.

Akane sighed as she turned back to the boy and tried to calm herself down. "Now look, I don't know what this is about but I suggest you settle it in a non violent matter. The last thing I want to deal with today is a big fight!" Akane failed to realize that Ryoga's appearance was merely the calm before the storm. "Now am I making myself perfectly clear?"

"Yes Akane." The two boys muttered.

"Good, now Ranma, let's see what we can do about getting out of this predicament. I don't know about you but I don't care much for getting married, at least not today."

Relief seemed to appear in Ranma's eyes. They had become a little more accustomed to the idea of getting married but that moment was way too sudden. He nodded his head and they started to walk towards the dojo to find their parents, both hoping to avoid any further conflicts. It was at that moment that the rest of the outer wall exploded.

The rest of the day was a bit of a blur. Ranma and Akane never got to talk to their parents about calling off the impromptu wedding. It wasn't exactly necessary. The fathers had assumed that since issues with Ranma's fiancées and Akane's admirers had lightened up the prospective suitors had given up on their pursuits. They were wrong. Very wrong. Ranma and Akane's suitors had simply been being patient and forgoing their typical antics until the right moment presented itself, and if the second wedding wasn't the right moment, nothing was. Within no time the yard was ruined and the dojo was demolished. Not to mention the numerous attempts to end Ranma and Akane's lives. Somehow they managed to survive, although their prospective clothes were not so lucky.

In the week that followed things began to become as crazy as they had before the first wedding. Up until the second failed wedding, which the event was titled within a week, things had been relatively calm, so Akane and Ranma were both a little out of practice and unprepared for the situations and incidents that followed. Circumstances quickly began to take their toll. Plus there had been a few new revelations.

Akane was surprised when Ryoga finally managed to confess his feelings for her. However, she was even more surprised when Shampoo crashed through the newly repaired outer wall and smashed into Ryoga sending him into the koi pond. She was very upset once she was forced to realize the bitter truth that her pet pig was actually the man that she had considered one of her best friends. Even worse was when she realized that Ranma had known about it all along. She had listened to Ranma's excuses of promising not to reveal Ryoga's curse, but she still refused to speak to either Ranma or Ryoga after that day. Considering it was Akane though, the two were grateful that she was merely not speaking to them instead of sending them both on a worldwide tour courtesy of Akane Air. She had really made great progress with her anger issues over the years. Still, that didn't help her from secretly wanting to turn the little black pig into her next cooking experiment. She didn't even know what to think about Ranma's collaboration on the issue. 

She hadn't gotten a chance to talk to Ranma before she left, partly because she still didn't know what to think about the situation with Ryoga and didn't really trust herself to avoid saying something to Ranma that she would regret. Plus, she had been plenty busy trying to get Kuno to leave her alone as well as trying to keep the other girls from killing her. Ranma had the reverse problems, trying to stay alive with his rivals trying to kill him, and his fiancée's fighting for his attention. Neither of them really had the time to sit down and talk, even if they had been on comfortable terms.

Those were some of the reasons that she decided to leave. She needed to clear her mind and distance herself from everyone so that she didn't do anything rash in her current state of mind. She also had some thinking to do. In the chaos of the wedding and the week that followed Akane hadn't had much time to think about the fact that she and Ranma had almost been married. She realized that she needed to make a decision about what she was going to do soon, because their parents would certainly pressure them into getting married again very soon. Therefore, she wasn't going to return until she was absolutely sure about what to do. 

Now that Akane found herself alone and in quiet surroundings, she had the opportunity to consider everything that happened recently. She frowned as she realized she had been crying. Not wanting anyone to see her in such disarray, she got up and made her way to the restroom to wash up. As she stood up she crashed into a young man trying to find his seat and fell to the ground. The man apologized quite sincerely and helped her to her feet. Akane, still concerned about her appearance kept the brim of her hat down obscuring her face as she murmured a flustered apology as well and rushed past the man.

Ranma watched the girl as she ran to the back of the train and wondered if she was okay. She had seemed a little upset. Figuring there was nothing he could really do about it he shrugged and looked at his ticket again. "42B," he said looking around. He frowned as he found his seat. It was the same aisle the girl had just exited from. "Figures," he thought. "An almost completely empty train and I still manage to get stuck sitting next to someone." He had hoped to be alone on the train trip, but of course he had no such luck. After the week he'd had all he wanted was some peace and quiet. He hoped Akane would be all right by herself. He felt a little guilty for leaving her to face everyone on her own. Still, she was most certainly mad at him for the whole situation with Ryoga. Plus he figured it would probably be a relief for her that he was gone seeing as their parents couldn't exactly force them to get married if he wasn't around. At least he hoped not. He panicked for a moment trying to figure out if there was any way their parents could arrange for them to be married if he wasn't present. Finally convincing himself it wasn't possible he relaxed. After all, that was the whole reason he was taking the trip. He wanted to go away for a little while and clear his head. After things had settled down and he had a better idea of what to do about the situation with Akane he would go back. 

Ranma stretched and yawned. He hadn't gotten much sleep since the wedding, and the constant fights had taken their toll on him. He decided that moment was a pretty good time to get some rest. Pushing his hat down over his eyes to keep out the light he drifted off to sleep.

Akane, feeling confident that she had fixed herself up, decided to return to her seat. As she approached it she frowned realizing that the seat next to hers was now occupied. It was just her luck to get stuck next to the only other occupant in the train car. She sighed and tried to slip past the man without waking him up. If she had to sit next to someone she'd prefer that person to be asleep. The last thing she needed at that moment was some guy trying to hit on her. 

The conductor called out that the train would be leaving momentarily and in a few minutes the train lurched forward and started on its way. Akane looked out the window. "Goodbye Ranma," she whispered. "I'll be back soon," she murmured as the motion of the train lulled her to sleep with her head pressed against the glass.

Ranma woke up when he heard his name and looked around, but there was no one in the train car except for the woman who was sleeping in the chair next to him. "Must have been a dream," he thought as he went back to sleep.

* * * *

Kasumi arrived home about a half hour after Ranma and Akane's departure. She was relived to find no one home to ask her about her whereabouts. It wasn't as if she was doing anything wrong, but she still felt guilty about seeing Dr. Tofu. She had always told herself she'd wait until Akane and Nabiki were married before she started seeing anyone. However, it was beginning to look as if Ranma and Akane would never get married, and Nabiki was too consumed with her money and too busy going to college which she had started attending the previous year to take any real interest in guys. Pretty soon Kasumi figured she'd be too old to find a good husband and start her own family. She simply couldn't wait any longer. Still, she was glad no one was home to have missed her. She preferred not to tell anyone about her relationship with Dr. Tofu immediately. 

However, that didn't help her from wondering where everyone was. Deciding they all must have gone out for a while and would return shortly she went to the kitchen and started preparing dinner, humming a little tune as she worked. After she had been cooking for a few minutes she heard the front door and Nabiki's voice as she called out that she was home. "Welcome back, Nabiki," Kasumi said.

Nabiki had just gotten home to visit her family a week ago having completed her first year of college. She'd rushed back to be around for the wedding, even though she had known perfectly well that the odds of the wedding being successful weren't very good. 

Nabiki made her way into the kitchen to see her sister. "No one else home?" she asked.

"No, they're all gone."

"Oh, okay then." Nabiki couldn't have cared less. No one ever asked her where she had been. They just always assumed she was out collecting her money. In fact, that was exactly what she had been doing. She had been at the Kuno's mansion collecting money from them for the damages they had caused at the most recent wedding disaster. Granted the money she requested was five times the amount they actually needed to pay for the damages. She smiled. "Kuno baby sure is loaded," she thought too herself. "And handsome too. Too bad he's such an idiot." She sighed. What was a girl like herself to do though?

As she made her way out of the kitchen, being the perceptive girl she was, she noticed the note on the table. She picked it up and began to read as Soun Tendo and Genma Saotome arrived home. Kasumi went out to welcome them meeting them half way in the tea room.

"Welcome home," she smiled pleasantly.

"Ah, Kasumi dear, where's Ranma and Akane?"  
"Well, I'm not quite sure, they weren't here when I retu-ah when I last checked. Maybe they went out to visit their little friends or something?"

Soun and Genma frowned. "Well, I hope they get back soon, we just made all the arrangements for another wedding, the priest should be here any minute."

"I suggest you call him and tell him not to come."

Everyone turned to the source of the comment. Nabiki.

"Why do you say that Nabiki?"

Nabiki handed the note to her father who read it out loud. 

_To the Tendos and my parents,_

_Yo. By now you've probably noticed I'm not here. I went away for a little while. I needed to be alone. I'll be back before too long, after I've had a chance to clear my head._

_Ranma_

Silence filled the room for several seconds. Finally Soun Tendo burst into tears. "WAAAH! My poor baby girl is going to be left at the altar!"

"Oh my!" said Kasumi. "I wonder how Akane will take this!"

"It's not like she hasn't had worse weddings," Nabiki said dryly, trying to lighten the mood in her own unique way.

Genma began to get angry and shook his fist in the air. "My ungrateful son! How dare he run of like this!"

"Well, what can we do, Saotome? We can't very well hold the wedding without the groom." Pause. "Can we?" The two began to think of a way that they could carry out the wedding without Ranma's presence.

Nabiki merely sighed. It would be unlike her to show much expression. She looked around starting to wonder just where Akane was after all. Kasumi's question had been quite valid. She had no idea how Akane was going to take Ranma's disappearance. Suddenly she spotted another letter on the ground and picked it up. As she started to read she gasped.

"What is it?" everyone asked.

Nabiki read the second letter aloud.

_Dear family, Mr. Saotome and Ranma,_

_ I'm very sorry to have left like this without a word but I thought it was for the best. I needed some time to think about the recent events and decide what I am going to do. I don't know when I'll return. Please don't try and find me, I can take care of myself and I will be fine. _

_ Sincerely, Akane_

Silence. "WAAAAHHH! My little girl has run away from home and her fiancé isn't here to go and look for her!"

"There, there father, it'll be alright."

"I guess this means there isn't going to be a wedding today after all, eh Tendo?"  
Nabiki rolled her eyes. Ever the practical one she made her way to the phone and called their usual priest to inform him the wedding would be canceled. Again.

* * * *

End of Chapter 1

  
A/N: Yes, that's all for now. Look forward to the next chapter soon! If you review it might come out faster!


	2. Hot Water

A/N: *Blink, blink* Wow. That's a lot of reviews... Um, thanks everyone for the reviews. I love reviews, and the more I get, the faster I write, as you can see by how fast I got my second chapter up. Anyway, I have some responses to your reviews after the chapter, so be sure to check those out. Oh, and I think that I'm going to put up one chapter every two days until this story is completed. My guess is that there's going to be a total of five or six chapters, but I'm not quite sure. Anyway, enjoy chapter 2 and PLEASE review! 

* * * *

Akane was relieved to find the hot spring completely vacant. She felt the strong urge to be alone. She sighed as she entered the warm water and made her way over to the partition. She sat down on a rock and leaned against it.

"What a day," she sighed. Earlier, when her train had reached Kyoto Station she had hurriedly woken up and grabbed her stuff. She quickly abandoned the popular tourist area for the more quiet streets of Kyoto. Instead of taking a bus to a hotel, she walked along the streets examining the shops and watching the many foreign tourists. Unfortunately for Akane, her sight seeing was cut short when it started raining. The storm hit so suddenly and so heavily that she was drenched before she could get to any shelter. Her original intent to leisurely choose a nice hotel to stay at was forsaken and she instead rushed to the closest hotel she could find. Then of course it had stopped raining as soon as she had checked in. "Figures," she mumbled to herself. "The perfect beginning to the perfect vacation from my perfect life," she growled emphasizing each 'perfect' with large traces of sarcasm. "Oh well. At least I chose a nice place to stay. It even has its own hot spring." She looked around her. Suddenly she realized that she had been there before. "That's right! Why didn't I realize it before now? This is the same place we were staying when Mom…" She trailed off not wanting to remember that day.

"I wish she was still here. She'd know what to do about this whole mess. Things would be so different. So normal." A tear rolled down her cheek and splashed in the warm water. "It's all so wrong! Why couldn't I have had a simple life like her? She met Daddy, fell in love and got married. Simple enough, right? But I can't have anything like that with Ranma. I mean after all, our first meeting was anything but pleasant. And even though we've sort of dated a few times I can't say I've been able to fully enjoy it. After all, we were hardly alone, considering our fathers kept popping up out of no where with the video camera and Ranma's fiancées kept showing up and ruining things. Besides, we were both too busy denying the fact that we were on a date to really enjoy ourselves. And we've never even kissed. Well, not really. And even though there are times when I feel that I might possibly sort of love him, I don't know how he feels about me. What if he never loves me and we're forced to get married? I couldn't stand being in a loveless marriage." She sighed. "If Mom was still alive, I wouldn't be in this mess in the first place. I know she would've never allowed Father to arrange my engagement to someone without my consent." She paused. "Then again, if he hadn't arranged our marriage, I probably never would've met Ranma at all." She stopped for a moment letting the thought sink in.

"Ah, listen to me. I'm starting to be affected by all those movies Yuka and Sayuri have been dragging me too. Love doesn't exist like it does in the movies. It's stupid to want a fairytale romance like that. It's not real.

"But all that aside, I can't even see any way for Ranma and I to be together. Every time we start to get close something happens to ruin the moment. All of our weddings have been destroyed, and there's no reason to think that any weddings we have in the future would produce different results whether we were willing to get married or not. So what then? We'll just all stay engaged to Ranma for the rest of our lives and no one will ever actually marry him?"

She sighed. "I just don't know what to do. I can't see any way out of this. And I miss my mom so much. How I wish she was here. I just know she would make everything better."

Several tears trickled down her face slowly until she gave up trying to hold them back. "After all, no one's here. I can cry." And she did, letting out all her pent up frustrations.

* * * *

If Akane had been upset about the rain then Ranma was simply furious. "Stupid bad weather. Does it have to follow me everywhere I go? Geez, I swear, water is simply out to get me," said the dripping wet red head. Ranma had checked into her hotel, dropped off her stuff in her room and headed straight for the hot spring. She couldn't find any hot water anywhere else and she was shivering. She hoped that a nice dip in the warm water would cheer her up.

Ranma made her way carefully into the boy's side of the hot spring. She was relieved to find that no one was in there. The last thing she needed was some confrontation about her curse. As she stepped into the water her transformation triggered. 

"Much better." He sat down and relaxed trying to forget about recent events. However, he wasn't so successful and eventually gave in to the thoughts that flooded through his mind. "Ah, what to do, what to do? As much as I'd like to just run away for good, I have to go back eventually. I'm not going to be like Pops and run away from my responsibilities. Still, I wish that every once in a while I could just get a break from it all. Just kind of like this I suppose. 

"I wish they'd realize that I can't marry all of them. Ah geez, there's no way out of this is there? No matter how many times I think about it, there's no way around it. I can't get out of my engagement with Shampoo because of those stupid Amazon laws, and even if it wasn't for the laws, there's no way Cologne would let me out of it. I can't get out of the engagement with Ukyo without hurting my best friend, not to mention I'm honor bound to marry her after taking her dowry, even though I knew nothing about it at the time. Then of course I can't get Kodachi to leave me alone because she's, well, she's just insane. I can't get out of the engagement with Akane because my father would disown me and my mom would probably force me to commit seppuku. Plus I've kind of gotten used to the idea of marrying her. I don't even really mind anymore." He sighed. "It's not about making my choice I guess. It's just that I can't break free from the other girls."

He looked up at the sky. "Akane. I wonder what she's doing right now?" It was then that he heard the sound of someone crying. Curious as to what was going on he made his way over to the partition between the girl's side and the boy's side to where the sound was coming from. Ranma always hated it when girls cried, and this case was no exception. Still he had no idea what to do about it. It wasn't any of his business or anything. Yet he couldn't just leave her like that. 

"Hey," he said cautiously. "You okay over there?"

Akane jerked her head up at the voice. She had been sure that no one else was occupying the hot springs. She composed herself a little in order to respond. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know anyone was over there."

"That's alright. You're not bothering me, I just want to make sure you're alright. Is something wrong?"

"That's very nice of you to be concerned, but I'm okay, really. No need for me to burden you with my troubles."

"You couldn't burden me. You don't have to tell me about it if you don't want, but I just figured it might do you some good to talk to someone. It's never good to be alone when you're upset. It only makes things seem worse than they really are." She didn't say anything and Ranma started to fidget. He never knew how to handle such situations. "We don't have to talk about whatever's upsetting you. We can talk about anything you want. Besides, I could use a good conversation to get my mind off of things as well. How about it?"

Akane smiled a little. "You're very kind."

Ranma smiled as well upon hearing the smile in her voice. It seemed that he was actually doing something to cheer the girl up. "So hey, what brings you to Kyoto then?"

Akane frowned. That was keeping her on the subject she was supposedly trying to forget. "I believe it was the train." Ranma laughed and Akane smiled a little more as well. "What about you?"

"Well, if you're referring to transportation, the train as well. If you're referring to why I'm here, well let's just say I needed a little vacation. I just graduated from high school and all." It wasn't exactly a lie, he figured. He was just leaving out a few things. Wouldn't do any good to unload his troubles on the poor girl when he was attempting to cheer her up. 

"Really? Me too! I haven't even really gotten a chance to think about it yet. I'm finished with school now. Well, unless I go to college."

"You mean you don't know if you're going or not?" 

"No. I want to, but I doubt I'll be able to. Well, at least I know I'm not going to start this year. I have too many things to deal with. What about you? You planning on going to college?"

"Me?" Ranma laughed. It wasn't the type of thought that ever crossed his mind. He always figured as soon as he was through with high school he'd be free for good. You didn't need a college education to be the best martial artist in the world, he'd always reasoned. "Nah, people like me don't need to go to college. It's not necessary for my profession."

Akane rolled her eyes. "Pheh. You sound like my fiancée."

"Oh, so you're engaged then?" Ranma was slightly relieved. _"At least I don't have to worry about this girl falling for me like all the rest,"_ he thought, as his ego swelled ever so slightly.

"Oh, um yes, actually I am."

"Well, that's nice. So am I actually."

"I wouldn't exactly use the word 'nice' to describe it."

"What do you mean?"

"It was an arranged marriage."

Ranma laughed. "No kidding? So is mine. Got to love parents."

"Yeah, tell me about it. It's so outdated, don't you think?"

"Definitely! I mean it's not so much that I mind marrying A-, her. It just seems like it's the type of thing I should be able to decide for myself."

"Yeah. I know what you mean."

"I mean, you'd think having a marriage arranged for you would save you the hassles but it doesn't. I don't even know how she feels about me."

"And I don't know how he feels about me." They both sighed.

"And then there's always somebody else." Ranma continued on fuming.

"Oh, of course!" Akane chimed in.

"Every time you start getting closer…"

"Something pops up out of nowhere and gets in your way!" Akane finished for him.

"Yeah!" Ranma said almost shouting. He then paused. "Is that why you're here?" He asked in a softer voice. "To get away from things?"

Akane sighed. "Yeah."

"Yeah, me too," he admitted. "I'm sorry. Here I am trying to get us thinking about other things and we're back to square one."

"It's okay. I appreciate you trying, but I can't seem to keep my mind off of it."

"Me either."

"Pathetic, isn't it?"

"Yep." They were both silent for a moment. "Do you miss him?"

"Honestly? Yes. But I'm not sure why really. I mean, I don't know if I miss him because he's just such a huge part of my life that it seems strange to be without him or because… well, you know. What about you, do you miss her?

He thought for a moment. "Well, I definitely don't miss my life back there. It's just crazy. But her, I don't know. I mean we fight all the time, although we've been getting along really well lately…" He thought back to a few moments ago when he had been wondering what Akane was doing. "Yeah, I miss her."

Akane smiled. She was relieved to know that not all guys were completely insensitive. She liked the fact that she had found someone with similar experiences as her. It helped her to get the perspective of the situation from a boy's point of view. She figured that if she asked him some questions she could get an idea about how Ranma felt about things.

"Say, do you think if your parents hadn't arranged the whole engagement you would get along with her better?" 

Ranma laughed. "Definitely. The whole arranged marriage thing put a huge strain on our relationship. You could probably say we were doomed to not get along. It sure would be nice if we could start over or something. If it wasn't for our first meeting I'm sure things would've gone a lot smoother for us."

"Well, it couldn't have been worse than when I first met my fiancée, believe me."

"I highly doubt it. Nothing could've gone worse."

They both decided to drop the subject; although they were both fully confident their experience was worse. However, the last thing they wanted to do was explain the whole Jusenkyo curse thing. Plus, it wasn't the best conversation to have with someone you had just met. It tended to make you sound a little bit nuts.

"Well, but what about you then? Think things would've gone differently for you and your fiancée?"

"Yes. If I had it to do over again, I would have handled our first meeting differently. You see, we started fighting the first day we met, and that whole experience set the tone for our entire relationship. It's been really difficult trying to break out of that pattern. When we first met I could tell he really needed a friend, and I tried to be that for him." Akane began to feel guilty as she usually did when recalling the memory. "But then after it was decided that we were going to be engaged, I got angry and said some horrible things. I turned on him, just when he needed me the most. Once I got to know him better I realized how wrong I had been. I mean yeah, he said some pretty horrible things to me as well, but it wasn't until after I became angry with him. Looking back everything he said was probably just to cover up the hurt he was feeling. I don't know if he's ever gotten past that."

Ranma felt sickened himself as Akane told the story. It reminded him of how he had felt when Akane and he had met. He would never admit it to his father, but after getting his curse, he had felt really insecure, and was constantly afraid of people rejecting him because of it. After he met Akane, he had been so happy to finally make a friend, someone he could trust. And then, just when he had started to trust her, think that maybe she would be somebody who could see past his curse, she turned on him and said all those things that he had been so afraid to hear ever since Jusenkyo. So he had insulted her in order to cover up the pain he felt, and they had fought ever since. Still, as time had gone on, he had begun to trust Akane again. She didn't see him as the things that she had called him that first day when they met. She really could see past all that, and eventually, he had been able to forgive her for that first day.

"He's forgiven you. I'm sure of it. People get angry at times and they take it out on whomever they can. He understands how you were feeling, believe me."

"I hope you're right." She paused feeling a little uncomfortable and changed the subject. "Have you ever been betrayed by your best friend?"

Ranma stiffened. "No."

"You're lucky then."

"I don't know about that. It's kind of like the whole saying 'It's better to have loved and to have lost than to never have loved at all.' Well, I've only never been betrayed by a best friend because I've never really had one."

"Oh. That is sad. May I ask why?"

"I don't really know to tell you the truth. I used to tell myself it was because I was always traveling and I never got to stay in one place long enough to really make friends, but now I realize that was just an excuse. I mean, now I have friends and all, but I can't bring myself to really trust them. I mean one of my best friends is in love with me so every time we're together I have to be worried about her trying to use some scheme to get me to marry her or something. Then another one of my friends is in love with my fiancée so that kind of complicates things. And then there's my fiancée. I mean I guess she's the closest I've ever had to a true friend, but we just never seem to get along for very long. And I can't talk to her about everything, like my relationship with her obviously. Things are just so complicated between us. But I don't know. Maybe someday we'll be able to get past all that. I hope so at least."

Akane wished the same thing for her and Ranma. She knew she'd do anything to be better friends with him at least. "I'm sure you can, someday. She probably wants the same thing."

Ranma smiled but was feeling a little awkward nonetheless. He decided to go along with her attempt to change the subject. "Why do you ask, though?"

"Well, it's kind of complicated. But you see, I had this… friend I guess, and I told him all my secrets all the time. Whenever something was wrong, I would tell him about it, and I'd usually feel so much better. It seemed like he was always there for me when I needed him. But then it turned out he wasn't exactly who I thought he was. I had trusted him, and he abused that trust. I just don't think I can ever forgive him, but I want to, because if I don't, then I've lost someone that was really important to me."

Ranma couldn't help thinking of Ryoga. Even though he didn't approve of what Ryoga had done to Akane, he felt for the guy. He had been wrong, but he had only done it because of his feelings for Akane. And he felt bad for Akane as well. He knew how much she had loved P-chan and how much her pet pig had comforted her. And Ryoga had been one of her closest friends. Now she had lost both of them. "Look, don't be too hard on the guy. I mean he was wrong to betray you like that, but I'm sure he had his reasons. All I'm saying is you should give him another chance. I'm sure he's sorry."

"I suppose you're right." Akane said, her voice sounding as cheerless as it had when they first started talking. 

"Hey, I'm not doing a very good job of taking your mind off of things. You want to try to talk about something else again?"

"Sure, I guess. It's worth a try."

* * * *

Ranma and Akane talked like that for a long time, both of them trying to avoid mentioning the things that had been bothering them. They both found it strange that even though they had just met, they were able to hit it off so well. It was almost as if they had known each other for years.

Akane laughed as Ranma told her some funny story. It was strange how this boy could make her feel so much better about things. She couldn't help feeling sad that they would probably never be able to meet again. After all it was so rare to meet someone you connected with so well.

Ranma couldn't remember the last time he had a conversation with someone like he was having with the strange girl. Actually he didn't think he ever had, really. It had been so nice for him to just open up to someone in a way that he felt he never could with anyone else.

Ranma was in the middle of his sentence when suddenly his stomach growled so loudly that Akane could hear it from the other side of the hot spring. She giggled.

"Ah, that reminds me, it's getting rather late and neither of us have had dinner yet. We've been talking out here for quite some time."

"Yeah, you're right. I'm starting to get all wrinkled."

She laughed. "Me too. Well, I suppose I should get going then. It must be fairly late."

"Yeah me too."

Pause. "It was… really nice talking to you. And thank you. You really did help cheer me up."

"I really enjoyed talking to you as well." He hesitated for a moment. "Do you mind if I ask your name?"

"I'm…" Akane paused. She had no problem with giving the stranger her real name, but she felt in might turn out to be troublesome. Not wanting her family to track her down easily or have anyone recognize her name she had registered for the hotel under the name of Ayame Higarashi, her mother's maiden name. _"I'm never going to see him again after I leave anyway,"_ she thought to herself. _"I guess it doesn't really matter."_

"I'm Ayame Higarashi. And you?"

Ranma sighed. _"Now that was stupid,"_ he thought, _"Of course she would ask as well."_ He had given the hotel a fake name as well. Although he doubted Nabiki would bother to track him down, he figured his fiancées wouldn't wait very long to chase after him, and he didn't want to make it any easier for them to find him. Plus, it seemed that everywhere he went someone would pop up and claim to be his fiancée. He didn't really want to give out his fake name to the girl, but knowing his luck, if he did give his real namesomething would happen to make him wish he hadn't. "I'm Kenji Saotouyo."

Akane flinched at the last name. "Saotouyo? 

Ranma flinched as well. When the lady at the counter of the hotel had asked for a name, he started to give her Saotome but then thought twice about giving his real name and ended with Saotouyo. The check in lady had given him a very funny look. 

"Yeah, I uh think it's English or something."

Akane raised her eyebrow. It definitely didn't sound English to her, but she decided not to mention it. "Anyway, it's been a pleasure speaking with you. Thank you for trying to cheer me up."

"Hey sure. Anytime. It was nice talking to you too." A heavy silence fell between them.

"Well then," Akane finally started. "I guess I better get going. Once again, nice talking to you. Goodbye," she finished lamely.

He listened to the sound of the water splashing as she got up and started to leave. A battle within him started as he tried to decide whether or not to stop her. _"Akane would kill me for even talking to her in the first place. But then I don't know anyone here and it'd be so nice to have someone to talk with. And she seemed so nice…"_

"Dinner!" He finally shouted at the last second.

Akane stopped. She was almost to the edge of the water, but when he had spoken she started making her way back. "Huh?"

"I uh mean, do you eat dinner? Well yeah I mean of course you eat dinner, um, ah." Ranma took a deep breath. "You see I don't really know anyone in the city and it's just so lonely eating by myself." Another pause. "Would you like to have dinner with me? It's my treat."

Akane was a bit taken aback. Just moments ago she was thinking she'd never hear from him again, and now he was asking her to dinner? As much as she had enjoyed his company and he seemed like a nice enough person, he was still a stranger, and she wasn't the type of girl to go around meeting with complete strangers in strange cities where she didn't know anyone. Ever since the whole incident with Ryoga, her trust in people had been fading. Plus, she couldn't help think that the whole proposition did sound a bit like a date. "I don't know."

Ranma sensed her hesitation. "I mean it wouldn't be like a date or anything. After all, both of us are engaged. Just two people eating. Really! I just enjoyed talking to you. I hate thinking that I'm never going to speak to you again or ever see you face to face." Ranma shook his head noticing he was sounding a little too desperate. _"What am I saying?"_ he thought. Still, he knew it was very much true. There was just something about the girl. He didn't know what it was, but the thought of her simply walking away without him ever speaking to her again terrified him. At the same time, he had a strange desire to see what she looked like. But he was sure he had scared her off. "I can understand if you don't want to. It's fine, no pressure or anything."

Akane was still a little suspicious, but she figured she might as well go. After all, she really did want to. "Dinner sounds nice."

"Great!" Ranma said a little more excited than he had intended. He calmed himself down. "I saw a pretty good restaurant around the corner on my way to the hotel. How about I meet you there in about a half hour?"

"Alright, sounds good. See you in a bit." She started to leave again but stopped. "Oh, by the way, in case you have trouble finding me I'll be wearing a white hat with a blue ribbon." 

"Okay, I'll be looking for you then."

* * * *

End of Chapter 2

Author Notes:

**General** - Yeah, I know, it is a little unbelievable that Ranma and Akane didn't recognize each other's voices, but by the same token Keitaro and Naru from Love Hina should have recognized each other's voices as well. Besides, there are a lot of things in Ranma 1/2 that aren't that realistic, unless you think a guy turning into a girl when splashed with cold water is normal. So personally I don't find the inability to recognize someone's voice a huge stretch. Also, I'm sorry to those of you who wanted this story to be closely based on the Love Hina episode. As far as I can tell, the only similarities between the two stories is the location and the general idea. I just got the idea for the story after watching the episode. It was never my intention to base it on the Love Hina plotline. It's been so long since I've seen that episode I don't even really remember it.

**Kyoto** - After reading a bit of information about Kyoto I went back and changed some parts of this chapter. On a side note, weather in Kyoto, especially around July and August, which is about the time this story is taking place, is very nice. It would be unlikely for a strong rain storm to suddenly appear. However, considering water seems to be attracted to people with Jusenkyo curses, I figured a rain storm wouldn't be too unrealistic for a Ranma 1/2 story. Also, there are many hotels in the area around Kyoto Station. Therefore, the fact that Ranma and Akane ended up staying at the exact same one is highly unlikely. But I'm willing to assume fate is playing it's hand in this story. I do not know if there are any hotels in the area that actually have hot springs, but I don't find it that unlikely. I do know there are a few that have public baths though. 

**Reviews** - Once again, thank you very much to all my reviewers for taking the time to read my story and respond to it. I'm also really glad that you all seem to be enjoying the story so much! Keep reviewing and letting me know what you think and I'll keep putting my chapters up at a rapid pace. Like I've mentioned before I've already written the whole story and I just need to make a few adjustments and touch ups, so it's not going to take me very long. Anyway, here's some of my responses to the reviews I received.

**Midnyghtbebop: **Lol, no I definitely don't want to have any deaths on my shoulders. Don't worry, I'll update as fast as I possibly can!

**Kanme Jrung:** There's a very good reason for the fact that it's similar to the Love Hina episode. That's where I got the idea to begin with. :-)

**Erie Maxwell:** This isn't really based on Love Hina at all. That's just how I got the idea. Sorry. In reference to the elopement jokes... Let's just say I think you'll be pleased.

**Sara:** Sorry, they didn't realize that they were sitting next to each other, but personally I think it's a little more interesting this way. Don't you agree?

To everyone else, thanks for liking my story so far and I promise I'll be fast at updating!


	3. Stood Up

A/N: Yea! Chapter 3! Um thank you so much everyone for your reviews. As promised I got my third chapter out really quickly. Hope you like it. Be sure to review and let me know what you think. Enjoy!

* * * *

Ranma walked down the street a half hour later. His resolve had been drastically slipping since he had last talked to the girl he had just met. "What are you doing Ranma? If Akane knew you were meeting with some girl she'd kill you!" As he walked down the streets his eyes caught a flower stand and his pace slowed as he started to consider buying her some flowers. "Agh! No, no, no! This is not a date! It's just two people getting together for dinner! I said so much to her." He forcefully resumed walking at a quicker pace. "There's just something about this girl." He shoved his hands in his pockets and kicked at a stone. "Does this mean that I'm not in love with Akane? There were times that I was so sure I was, and before talking to Ayame I was beginning to miss her already. But if I love Akane, then why am I thinking so much about Ayame?" He looked up at the sign in front of him. "Well, here's the place I guess." He walked inside and looked around for the described girl with a white hat with blue ribbon. 

"Can I help you Sir?" asked the waiter behind him.

"Um, yeah, I'm looking for someone named Ayame Higarashi." 

"Ah yes of course, right this way Sir."

Ranma followed the man over to a table towards the middle of the room. Somewhere ahead of him he caught sight of a woman in a white hat with a blue ribbon. He couldn't see her whole face because she was looking off to the side. "That must be her," he thought. The girl then turned around so he could see her face. Ranma's mouth dropped and he quickly jumped behind a table. "What the hell is Akane doing here?" he gasped under his breath. "Did she see me?" He peeked his head over the table. Akane was still sitting there, calmly looking around. Ranma breathed a sigh of relief realizing she hadn't seen him. 

The people at the tables around Ranma were beginning to look at him inquisitively and whispering. "Phew, that was close," Ranma breathed. "I guess I can't meet Ayame here." He thought for a second. "Wait a minute. Where have I heard that name before? Ayame Higarashi… Right! That was the name of Akane's mother." He peeked over the table again and looked at Akane. "And she is wearing a white hat with a blue ribbon." Ranma slowly put two and two together. "Ah man, I've got to get out of here." He started to creep away on the ground behind the tables but paused. "But I have to find out what she's doing here. And why would she go out with some stranger anyway? I can't believe she's cheating on me like that…"

"Is there a problem Sir?" 

Ranma looked up at the waiter who was looking at him with a rather calm expression considering the circumstances. 

"Uh, sort of," Ranma whispered. "Small change of plans, can you seat me at that table over there instead?" He pointed towards a table that was positioned behind Akane and slightly in the dark. 

"Yes, of course Sir." He paused. "Would you like me to cause a distraction while you make your way over there?"

Ranma looked at the waiter in relief. "Really? That would be great!"

"Very good Sir. Here, take a menu with you. It might come in handy." The waiter turned and walked over to Akane's table and began to talk to her. Ranma managed to make his way to his own table without being noticed and attributed his success to his great skill in martial arts. However, in actuality, Ranma only made his way to the table after tripping over a chair and smashing into a waiter carrying a tray full of food. It was only thanks to the waiter talking to Akane that he wasn't noticed, at least not by Akane. Ranma sat at his table and put the menu in front of his face. "What on earth is Akane doing in Kyoto?" he wondered once again. "And why is she agreeing to go out on a date with some stranger? We almost got married last week and now she's off trying to meet other guys! I should just go over there and give her a piece of my mind!" He was about to do just that when the waiter came over to him.

"Is there anything I can get you Sir?"

"Huh?" Ranma said unintelligently having been so focused on Akane that he hadn't noticed the waiter coming over to him. "Oh um, no, nothing, maybe just a glass of water for now."

"Yes Sir." He started to walk away but stopped. "I know it's none of my concern, Sir, but Miss Ayame seems quite delightful, and she's hardly unattractive. I think you're making a mistake avoiding her like this."

"Oh, no it's nothing like that." He pointed over at Akane. "You see, she's my fiancée, and she's not supposed to know that I'm here."

The waiter was now thoroughly confused. "Then why did you agree to meet with her?"

"I didn't know it was her. You see I was talking to this girl at the hotel I'm staying at and she sounded nice so I thought I'd ask her to dinner and it turns out she's my fiancée."

The waiter was still confused. "How did you not know that the woman you were talking to at the hotel was your fiancée?"

"Well, I was talking to her at the hot springs in the hotel and she was on the other side of the partition. Plus, she gave me a different name for some reason. Make sense?"

"Vaguely. You must admit these kinds of things don't happen every day."

Ranma laughed. "They do to me."

The waiter raised his eyebrow. "Yes indeed. But Sir, I still don't understand why you don't just go over there and explain the situation to the lady."

"Because she's not supposed to know I'm in Kyoto. See, we almost got married last week but there were complications and it didn't go through. Anyway, I needed to get away for a little while to clear my head so I came to Kyoto and she doesn't know that I'm here, or anyone else. Plus I can't believe her! Here we almost get married and now she's off in Kyoto trying to get dates with random guys she meets in hot springs! Unbelievable!"

"But Sir, isn't that exactly what you're doing?"

"Of course not! I just asked her out as a friend, when I thought she was Ayame that is."

"Then if it wasn't a date for you how is it a date for her?"

Ranma thought about that for a minute. "It's just different."

"Whatever you say Sir." The waiter walked away.

Ranma sighed. He knew the waiter was right. 'Ayame' had seemed very reluctant to meet with him, whereas he had been the one that was so afraid of never talking to the girl again. _"If anyone's being unfaithful, it's me."_ He watched as Akane looked around the place nervously. _"What are you doing here, Akane?"_ It was then that he started to remember his conversation with 'Ayame.' _"She really sounded upset at first. I guess we're both here for the same reason. We both just needed some time to think I guess. I wonder what she's thinking of doing now. And what am I going to do?"_ He noticed he was still looking at her and smiled. _"I guess she is kind of cute when she wants to be."_

The waiter came back with a glass of water for Ranma. "You ready to order now Sir?"

"No, not yet."

The waiter paused for a moment. "Sir, I know it's none of my concern, but about the lady, don't you think maybe you should give her a note or something letting her know that you're not going to be coming?"

Ranma thought for a moment. "Huh, I hadn't really thought about it. Maybe I should wait to see how long she stays."

"Sir, if I should be so bold, don't you think that's kind of a horrible thing to do to someone, especially someone you're engaged to? And what exactly do you want her to do? Wait for a long time, or a short time?"

"Well, a short time of course, that shows that she doesn't really care about this guy too much."

"But Sir, you're the guy. If she doesn't wait a long time it's like she's not interested in you."

"Well, yeah but… no it's different cause…" He gave up. "You're no ordinary waiter are you?"

"Just doing my job Sir."

"Uh huh. Whatever you say." He thought for a moment and looked over at Akane. She looked very out of place. It was rather sad how she kept looking at her watch every few minutes. The people around her were giving her pitying looks as well. Ranma sighed. It was a rather cruel thing to do to her. "I guess you're right. Maybe I should write her a note or something."

"Very good Sir." 

Ranma scribbled a quick note and handed it to the waiter. The waiter then took it over to Akane's table.

"Excuse me Miss?" Akane looked up at the waiter. 

"Yes?"

"Some man just left a message for you." The waiter looked at the note. "A Mr. Kenji Saotouyo," he read. He paused at the name and gave a sideward glance at Ranma. Ranma glared at the waiter and made motions with his hands indicating for him to go on. "He says that he's very sorry but something quite sudden came up and he's not going to be able to join you." The waiter then handed the note to Akane. 

Akane's face fell a little as she looked at the note. "Oh, well thank you very much."

"Is there anything I can get you, Miss?"

"Oh, no thank you, I'll just be leaving."

"Don't you want to order now, Miss?" 

"Oh, no," she blushed slightly. "Actually, I left my purse in my hotel room." She blushed deeper. "I wasn't exactly expecting to be stood up." Her lip quivered a little.

The waiter began to feel sorry for the girl. She looked as if she was about to cry. Plus it was late. By the time the girl got back to her hotel to get her purse all the restaurants would be near closing. He glanced over at Ranma. He also looked like he was feeling guilty. The waiter made his decision.

"Oh, how silly of me. Did I forget to mention it? The man also left us some money with instructions for you to order whatever you would like." Ranma fell over in his chair. Akane looked at the waiter a little suspiciously.

"Really? Oh I don't know, I couldn't."

The waiter cut her off. "Well it's none of my concern Miss, but he already paid so you might as well order something."

Akane sighed. "Well, I guess it would be okay." She thought for a moment and then decided. The waiter was relieved to see the woman's face brighten. "Okay then."

Ranma watched as Akane ordered. The waiter then made his way back over to his table.

"I'm sorry Sir, I know it's…"

"Yeah, yeah I know, 'it's none of your concern.'" He paused. "Thank you," he grumbled.

The waiter smiled to himself. "And what would you like to order Sir?"

"What did she have?"

"The lady ordered Yakisoba."

"Oh, okay, guess that's not too bad," he said looking at the menu and the price ranges. The waiter rolled his eyes. "I guess I'll have that too."

"Very good Sir." The waiter smiled as he walked away. He had always considered his job to be quite dull, but the events of the day had been quite amusing. The waiter would have been even more amused if he had seen Ranma at that moment as he spilled his glass of water on himself and then made a mad dash for the restroom.

* * * *

About an hour later Akane returned to her hotel room. She sighed and collapsed on the futon. "What's wrong with me anyway? Ranma must be right. I really am un-cute. I bet that Kenji took one look at me and decided to bolt. Oh but what do I care? It's not like it was a date or anything. I just was looking forward to the company I guess." She rolled over on her side and looked at the phone. "I really do miss him. But it hasn't even been a day. It'd look pretty pathetic if I called…" Even as she said the words she found herself reaching for the phone and dialing the number.

"Hello, Tendo Residence. Who's calling please?"

"Kasumi, hey. It's me, Akane."

"Oh, Akane! Thank goodness, we were all so worried about you. Where are you?"

"I'm fine Sis, don't worry. I should be home soon," she said avoiding the question about her whereabouts. "How's everyone doing?"

"Well, Nabiki's been trying to track you down all day. I don't know where she is right now. Father has been crying about his little girl disappearing and Mr. Saotome is hiding from his wife since she blames him for you running away."

Akane sighed. "Didn't you guys get my note? I said not to worry. I'm eighteen now, I can take care of myself. Besides, I'll be home soon. Like I said I just need some time to think."

"Yes Akane, but you don't usually act like this."

She sighed. "I don't really know how to act anymore."

"What do you mean Akane?"

"Oh nothing, Sis. Never mind. Um, what about Ranma? Where's he?"

"Oh, don't you know? He disappeared too."

"W-What?"

"Yes, we came home and there were two notes, one from you and one from Ranma. Father was kind of hoping that the two of you had eloped or something, but Nabiki was pretty sure you hadn't. After all, the notes did look like they were separate and they didn't say anything about each other."

"So then you have no idea where he went?"

"No, not a clue."

Akane felt herself sinking. "I- I can't believe he left me."

"Akane, but you did the same thing."

"Yeah but I just needed some time to think about things! I was going to come back!"

"Oh but Akane, Ranma just needed some time to think too. I'm sure he'll be back as well. The two of you have more in common than you may think, Akane."

"Sometimes I wonder," she whispered so that Kasumi could barely make out her words. "Well, Kasumi, I should get going, this is probably costing me a lot of money. I'll call back tomorrow night to see if you've heard from Ranma or anything. Please tell everyone not to worry. Goodbye."

"Akane! Wait, when are you going to be coming home? Akane? Akane?"

Akane hung up the phone as a tear fell down her cheek. "He left me. I can't believe he left me. I may never see him again." Another tear fell down her face followed by more. She angrily wiped them away with the back of her hand. "Akane stop it! You don't know that. It's just been one day, and you left yourself. He'll be back. And so will I. Right now I just need to concentrate on figuring out what to do when I return. By then he'll be home. I'm sure of it." Despite her words, she wasn't entirely convinced.

She flopped on her back again and stared at the ceiling as her tears began to fade away. "Why do I miss him so much?" 

She looked back at the phone again wishing she could talk to Kenji, or at least someone. "Ah come on Akane, he stood you up. You can't be thinking of calling him now. You'll look like you're desperate or something." She paused for a moment still looking at the phone. "Then again, I should thank him for dinner and offer to pay him back. He shouldn't have had to pay for me if he wasn't even there." She picked up the phone and dialed the front desk.

"Yes, how may I help you?"

"Hi, can you connect me to Kenji Saotouyo's room please?"

"Yes just a moment please." 

Akane heard the phone click and then waited as it began to ring.

* * * *

After dinner Ranma decided to take a walk. "Man, I'm just full of surprises today. You think you know yourself and then… I mean first of all I leave town so I can think, then just when I start to feel like I miss Akane I meet this other girl and start to fall for her. Then this girl turns out to be Akane. What's that supposed to mean anyway? Does it mean that I'm really fickle or does it mean that Akane's just the one that's right for me? I mean after all, it was Akane that I was falling for…" Something wet hit his face. "Huh? What the... Am I crying?"

As if in response the sky flashed and roared and the single raindrop that had hit his face was immediately followed by more as it began to rain. Ranma, now female, growled in annoyance. "Ah man! I thought Nerima was the only place that had unpredictable weather! Or do you just like to follow me, huh?" she asked the clouds. When she received no answer she ran for the hotel to get out of the storm. She entered her room and grabbed a pair of dry clothes. "Well, I guess I might as well hit the hot spring again." She was about to do that when the phone rang. She paused with her hand on the door contemplating whether or not she should answer it. The phone rang again and she sighed. Her curiosity of who would be calling won out and she picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, I was trying to reach Kenji Saotouyo. I must have the wrong room or something."

"No, this is the right room."

"Oh," the girl on the other end sounded surprised. "Well, never mind, I don't want to be interrupting anything."

"Oh, don't worry, you're not."

"Oh, well, this is Ayame Higarashi. You must be Kenji's fiancée?"

_"Shoot! It's Akane,"_ Ranma thought. _ "What's she calling for?"_

"His fiancée? No um, I'm his uh twin sister! Yeah, that's it," Ranma responded.

"Oh. Kenji didn't mention that he had his sister with him."

"Yeah, well he wasn't really expecting me. I just sort of showed up." 

_"At least that's not really a lie," _ Ranma thought.

"Oh, and that would explain why he couldn't make it to dinner then."

Ranma's eyes lit up. "Um, yeah! That would explain it wouldn't it?" she began laughing.

"I guess so. Well, anyway, is Kenji there? I wanted to thank him for buying me dinner."

"Uh," Ranma looked around the room for some hot water but unfortunately there wasn't any available in the room. "No, he's not here right now. He's on his way to the hot spring. He got caught out in the rain and wanted to warm up." 

_"Also not a lie,"_ Ranma thought. _ "I'm getting good at this."_

"Oh, okay. Well, then, just tell him thank you for me."

"Alright, I'll be sure to do that."

"Oh, and also I just wanted to tell him that even though we only met once, I really felt as if we'd known each other for years. I've never really connected with someone like that. It was really nice to have met him."

Ranma-chan smiled. She had felt the same way until she had found out that Ayame was actually Akane. She wished that her first meeting with Akane had been like that. Suddenly she remembered their conversation in the hot spring earlier where they had both said that they wished they could meet their fiancée's over again. And now in some strange twist of fate they had been given that chance. 

"Uh, why don't you tell him yourself?"

"Oh, I don't know."

Ranma-chan sighed realizing Akane was most likely upset about being stood up. "Please? I mean, I know Kenji would really like the opportunity to apologize to you. He was really sorry about canceling on you like that. He's not the type of guy to do something like that without a good reason."

"Yes, well, I guess it doesn't really matter now. I have a few things I want to do tomorrow and then I think I'm going to go home soon."

"But Kenji would be really disappointed that he missed talking to you again. Please? I understand you're upset about tonight, but give him another chance, okay?"

There was silence on the other end of the line for a few moments and Ranma-chan began to worry she was going to say no. "I- I don't know. I'll think about it."

Ranma-chan breathed a sigh of relief. At least a she hadn't said no. "Well, if you decide you want to talk to him, he'll be down in the hot spring again."

"Alright. Thank you. Goodbye now."

"Bye!" Ranma-chan listened as the phone clicked on the other end. She then rushed down to the hot spring hoping she'd get there before Akane.

* * * *

About forty-five minutes later Ranma sat in the hot spring still waiting for Akane. He sighed. "I guess she decided not to come," he said to himself. Feeling disappointed and a little hurt he stood up and made his way out of the water. Just then he heard a timid voice calling him.

"K-Kenji? Are you there?"

He turned around and rushed back to the partition. The light from the lanterns around the hot spring shown through the thin paper partition so that he could just make out her silhouette. He gulped at the sight of her figure and wondered how he had ever been able to call her un-cute. "Y-yeah. Ayame? Is that you?"

"Uh huh. I called and your sister told me you were down here. I sort of wanted to thank you for dinner."

"Dinner, right! Ayame, about that, I am so sorry…"

"It's okay really, your sister explained the whole thing to me."

"Oh, she did?"

"Uh huh." She paused. "Well, to tell you the truth, that wasn't the only reason I called. I sort of wanted to talk to you again. I just heard something that kind of bothers me."

"What happened?" he asked trying to figure out what possibly could've happened in such a short time to get her upset.

"H-He left me."

"What?"

"My fiancée, Ranma. I called home and he's gone."

Ranma was confused. He knew he had left a note. How could she get that impression? "What? He didn't leave a note?"

"Yes."

"Well, what did it say?"

"That he wanted to get away for a while."

"So? Then he's going to return, right?"

"I don't think so."

"What? Why not? Of course he will."

"What if he doesn't?"

Ranma sighed. When he wrote the note he had been afraid that Akane wouldn't quite understand, but he didn't think she'd react like she was. "Did he say he would come back?"

"Y-yes."

"Then he'll be back! What are you so worried about?"

"I just can't believe that he left me."

"But Ayame, you did the exact same thing, remember?"

"Yeah, but it's a little different."

"How?"

She didn't respond for a second. "I guess it's not, is it?"

"No! Of course not."

She sighed. "You're right. It's just that, I don't know. I guess I expected things to turn out differently. I know it's silly, but I guess a part of me was hoping that Ranma would find my note and run off to try and find me like he usually does. But he's not going to do that because he's not even there to miss me. He doesn't even know I'm gone."

Ranma thought for a moment. She was right, that's exactly what he would've done. And he realized that a part of him had actually hoped she would come after him as well. He suddenly realized that he was upset that she had left as well. "Yeah, I know what you mean. Still, Ayame, I bet he misses you anyway, wherever he is."

"You really think so?"

"I know so." Still, he was suddenly a little bothered himself. "Hey Ayame? Did you buy a one way ticket or a round trip ticket?"

"Round trip."

Ranma felt a little relieved. "So you were going to go back no matter what?"

"Yes. I don't want to run away from my problems. I just needed a break. What about you?"

He didn't answer immediately. He hadn't thought about it when he bought the ticket, but now he realized the significance of his decision. He hadn't been certain that he would ever return. The thought made him sick. "One way."

"Why?"

"I- I don't know. I've always tried to not run away from things like my father, and yet that's exactly what I was doing, wasn't it?"

"Don't be so hard on yourself. It doesn't necessarily mean you're running away. Are you going to return?"

"Yes." He was surprised about the certainty he had answered the question with. "Definitely."

"Then why does it matter that you thought you might not return?"

"Because. You didn't even doubt it for a moment, and yet I did."

"It doesn't matter. I don't care if Ranma bought a round trip ticket or not, just as long as he comes back to me."

"Really?"

"Yes, really. That's all that really matters, isn't it?"

"Yeah."

"But come on, let's talk about something less serious now, alright?"

"Okay. There is something I was wondering actually. Why of all places did you choose to come to Kyoto? Does it have some significance to you and your fiancée or something?" He knew that wasn't it, unless he had been extremely dense and missed something in their past completely.

"No," she said in a voice lacking any emotion. "I came here because this is where my mother died."

_"Shoot!"_ Ranma thought. _"Why of all things did I have to ask her THAT?"_

"Ayame, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked."

"No, that's okay. It was a long time ago. You know what they say, time heals all wounds. Although sometimes it doesn't feel like it. Especially now, being here in this town."

"I'm sorry, really. You don't have to talk about it."

"Thanks, I'd rather not. But um, yeah. Why did you come to Kyoto?"

Ranma realized he didn't really have an answer. "I don't know really. Just seemed right for some reason. I just trusted my instincts, and it's a good thing, because if I hadn't, I never would have met you."

Akane laughed. "Oh please, I'm just a bother to you. You can't enjoy my company that much. All you do is listen to me whine."

"That's not true! I feel like I can really relate to you. You've helped me too, you know."

"Kenji, I really am glad we met."

"Me too." 

* * * *

End of Chapter 3

Okay that's it. Hope you all liked it. Coming soon is chapter 4. Thank you to everyone for giving me such kind reviews. It really pleases me to know that you all are enjoying my story so much. I just wanted to say that this is definitely going to be completed soon. I'm not going to give up on this story half way in or anything. I've basically written the whole thing already which is the only reason I'm updating so quickly. I'm going to try really hard to get the next chapters up every other day, but I don't know if I'll be successful since I need to make some changes in the upcoming chapters. Anyway, please be patient, I promise to be as fast as possible. And Midnyghtbebop, please don't go dying on me, or anyone else for that matter. Alright, that's all for now. Ja ne!


	4. Cherry Blossoms

A/N: If you don't know how the Ranma 1/2 manga ends, I'm sorry but this might be a bit of a spoiler for you. I do make reference to certain things that occurred in the final chapter of the manga. Sorry if this bothers you, but at least now you've been warned. Anyway, without any further ado, on to the chapter. Oh, and in case you get confused, things in italics are flashbacks. That's all. Enjoy!

* * * *

_ It had been a wonderful vacation. The Tendos had visited their relatives and seen all kinds of sights in the city. The trip had seemed to do Akane's mother some good as well. For the first time in almost a year, the color was returning to her mother's cheeks. Akane was too young to really understand things. She never really knew what might happen to her mother. She was only six years old. She didn't even know what death was. All she knew was that her mother was very sick. But Akane had thought that she was starting to get better._

_Akane laughed gleefully as she splashed her older sister Nabiki with the water from the hot spring. She giggled as her sister chased after her. Suddenly Kasumi rushed in, her normally calm face stricken with concern._

_ "Akane, Nabiki, come quick. It's... it's Mother…"_

_ The two girls in the hot spring stopped in the middle of their game and stared at their older sister, shock and worry evident on their faces._

* * * *

Akane bolted upright in her bed with a muffled shout. After a moment, she sighed. "Just a dream." She took a moment to calm herself and turned to look out her window where sunlight was streaming in. "Mmm, it looks like a beautiful day," she said getting up and making her way over to the window. She stared outside trying to forget about her dream as she had done so many times in the past, but it kept playing itself over and over in her mind. Akane found it strange that she could remember every little detail of that week up until that very moment. Everything that followed, her mother's death, the funeral, it was all a blur, forever erased from her memory. The next memory she had was of a conversation she had with her sister Kasumi a few days after the funeral. 

_"But I don't understand! She was getting better! She looked better." A young Akane cried to her oldest sister._

_ "Akane," Kasumi had said. "We didn't go to Kyoto for Mom to get better. We went so that she could say goodbye to her family. She didn't have much time left."_

Akane shook herself out of her thoughts. "No use sitting around in my room all day thinking about that." She moved around the room collecting some things and getting dressed. After she was finished she fastened her white hat on her head, grabbed her purse and made her way out of the room.

* * * *

Ranma hadn't slept much that night. After he had finished talking to 'Ayame' he had waited by the exit of the hot spring for her to leave and quietly followed her to find out where her room was. He was surprised to find her room was only a few doors down from his. Then he went to bed himself and instead of going to sleep just lay awake thinking of his conversation with 'Ayame' that night, one part in particular.

_"Do you really hate being in an arranged marriage that much, Ayame?"_

_"Yes."_

_"Why? I mean if you decide you want to get married to this guy, then there's really no problem right?"_

_ "I wouldn't say that. For one thing there's still the matter of all his other fiancée's. How are we supposed to even get married with them around all the time?"_

_ "What do you think would happen if you did get married?"_

_ "Well, provided that was actually possible, I don't really know. They'd probably hang around for a while to make sure we didn't break up or something, but eventually they'd have to give up I suppose. Or kill me. And I wouldn't put that past them. Still, as I said, there's no way to get rid of them long enough to get married anyway."_

_ "Alright, I guess that makes sense, but that really has nothing to do with your engagement being arranged. I mean you'd have those problems whether your parents had arranged the marriage or not."_

_ "Yeah, I guess that's true."_

_ "So then why's it so bad?"_

_ "Well, it's just that… Oh never mind. It's stupid."_

_ "No, what?"_

_ Akane sighed. "Well, it's just that it's so unromantic! All my life I've kind of been looking forward to meeting the person I was going to spend the rest of my life with. It takes away all the romance since I didn't even get to choose him. And well, like I said, it's silly, but he's never going to propose to me."_

_ "What? Why would he? That makes no sense. You two are already engaged!"_

_ "I know! That's why I said it's silly. I guess it just must be a girl thing or something, but all my life I've always looked forward to someone proposing to me. You see, my mom used to tell me about how my father proposed to her. Every time she told the story you could see her eyes light up at the memory. So I always sort of wanted that I guess." Akane sighed. "It's stupid, I know. But I mean, don't you ever wish you could've proposed to your fiancée yourself instead of having your parents just arrange everything?"_

_ Ranma hadn't ever really thought about it. He always figured that was one of the only benefits to having an arranged marriage, that he didn't ever have to worry about the girl he liked turning him down. He realized that his real problem was simply that he was afraid of being rejected. Having an arranged marriage had seemed safer to him. Yet, at the same time it had made it even harder for him to be honest about how he felt about Akane. _

_ "I- I suppose you're right. I just never really thought about it that way. But I mean hey, you never know, you may get your wish someday, right?" Ranma said, smiling._

_ Akane scoffed. "Yeah right, that idiot can't even admit that he likes me."_

_ Ranma checked himself from shouting some kind of insult back at her. He knew he couldn't because she still didn't know it was him. "You know, you may not know your fiancée as well as you think."_

_ "I suppose."_

_ Ranma took a deep breath and finally asked the question he'd been afraid to ask. "Ayame, do you love him?"_

_ She didn't answer for a moment and Ranma began to get extremely worried. "I'd say that I definitely feel something for him," she finally answered. "There have been plenty of times where I thought it was love, and for the most part, I'm pretty sure it is, but I'm still not entirely certain. And even if I do, what's it worth? There are too many obstacles in our way after all. Maybe if there weren't I could be sure."_

_ "Yeah, I know what you mean."_

Back in his room, Ranma sighed. It hadn't exactly been the answer he was hoping for, but it was better than a 'no.' He stared at his ceiling for a while thinking of the events surrounding their second failed wedding and the things that had happened in Kyoto. "Ah man! I wish I knew how all of this would end."

He had been up all night thinking, and he had finally figured out how he felt about Akane. "I do love her," he whispered to himself. He had almost been sure of it before talking to 'Ayame', but then after he had talked to her, he had started doubting his feelings for Akane because he was feeling a strange attachment to 'Ayame.' When he found out 'Ayame' was actually Akane he had been even more confused. He didn't know if that meant he had fallen for two different girls or he had just fallen for the same one twice. So he started to ask himself what it was he liked about 'Ayame.' He liked the fact that she was a sweet and compassionate person, as well as incredibly witty and fun to talk to. Of course at first glance those appeared to be things that Akane definitely was not. The Akane he knew was quick to anger, and incredibly temperamental. However, she never put herself above others, never held a grudge for a very long time, and was actually very sweet prior to getting upset with someone. So on the surface, Akane and 'Ayame' appeared to be entirely different people. But at heart, Ranma knew they were exactly alike. 'Ayame' and Ranma had simply gotten off to a better start than Akane and Ranma had. 

After thinking it over, Ranma realized that if the girl hadn't been Akane he wouldn't have started to fall in love with her. It only confirmed his feelings for Akane. Now that he had been given the chance to meet her all over again, all his doubts about if his feelings for Akane had been due to the constant pushing of their parents were washed away. He had fallen in love with her all over again without any interference from other people. And now he was sure of it. He loved her. But unfortunately, that realization didn't make him feel much more at ease. In truth, he had always known he was in love with her. Yet he had denied it, partially because it was safer, and at the time, there was nothing he could have done about it. There were still too many issues to resolve.

Looking out towards the window he noticed the sunlight drifting in. "Guess I'm not going to get any more sleep today." After getting up and getting dressed he started to leave his room. He opened his door and immediately slammed it shut. "Yikes! That was close." He opened the door a crack and peeked out watching as Akane made her way to the end of the hall and around the corner. "Phew," he said, breathing a sigh of relief. Then he was overwhelmed with curiosity. "I wonder where she's going. She kept talking about how she had to do some things. What could she have meant anyway?" He found himself unconsciously making his way down that hall in the direction Akane had gone. At the end of the hall he saw her making her way down the stairs, and waiting until she had disappeared from sight again he went after her. She exited the hotel with him close behind, but at enough of a distance to where he wasn't noticed. 

"Where are you going, Akane?" he wondered to himself. Intent on finding out, he followed her as she walked through the streets of Kyoto, weaving in and out of the traffic of people, set on not losing sight of her.

* * * *

"It's been a long time," Akane thought to herself. "Too long." Somehow Akane knew every turn she needed to take without hesitation. It seemed to her only a matter of minutes before she arrived at her destination. Entering the park she made her way towards an old cherry blossom tree.

With a smile she stepped up to it and began to trace the initials engraved in the wood. "S.T. and A.H. Forever." Her smile grew slightly sad and she began to speak to her mother as if she were standing right beside her. "I've only been here once when we all went on a picnic together, but I've heard about it so many times. I remember how you told us about the time Dad carved this in the tree. And how he proposed to you here a few months later." She sighed. "So many memories are here in this place. I can almost feel them." She grew silent for a moment before continuing. 

"Dad misses you a lot you know. We all do. I-I miss you so much." She bit her lip and reached into her pocket, pulling out an old piece of paper that looked as if it had been opened and refolded a thousand times.

It read, _"To my beautiful Akane. It is my final wish and prayer that you live a long and happy life. And when you depart from this world, may you do so with no regrets, having lived your life to its fullest, as I have. For I have lived well, and loved well, and truly I could not ask for more."_

Akane had read those words many times, on a piece of paper that she kept hidden at the bottom of her desk drawer, but they had never held so much meaning as they did at that moment. The tears flowed freely down her cheeks, yet she smiled.

"Well Mom, I'm all grown up now. I graduated high school and turned eighteen. I try to always be happy, but I still miss you a lot. But I still have Dad, and Nabiki, and Kasumi and…" she trailed off and smiled again. "I wonder what you would have thought of Ranma, Mom. He's…" She tried to think of words to describe him. "Well, he really does care, in his own sort of way. And he can be sweet at times, though sometimes he makes me so mad that I want to wring his neck. Oh! Ah, sorry Mother. I meant no disrespect. I know I shouldn't speak so lightly of death considering… well…" She cleared her throat and continued. "Ahem. Anyway, Ranma's… special in his own unique way. I honestly can't imagine myself with anyone else. Yet most of the time I can't even picture myself with him at all. I hope that doesn't mean I'm destined to live my life alone. I'd hate to betray your last wish."

She stopped and listened to the sounds of the birds chirping and the wind whistling through the trees for a moment. "Do you really have no regrets Mom? I mean, don't you wish you could've lived longer? Your life was just so short. You said you had no regrets, but so far I worry that if tomorrow was my last day I couldn't say I had lived my life. I guess when you almost die yourself you start to entertain thoughts like that." She thought of the day in Jusendo when she had almost died and a frown adorned her face as she immediately felt a chill creep over her. "I remember that feeling when I was unconscious, and there was this light, and suddenly I was overwhelmed by the urge to be with you again. But I could still hear his voice, and his cries and I was torn as to which way to turn. Then I remembered your words. That I should live my life to the fullest, with no regrets, and I felt I couldn't face you again as I was. That you would be disappointed in me. I didn't even stop to consider that I would be disappointing myself. Until I heard him say it. At least I thought I heard him say it, of course he denied it later. He said he loved me, and it was then that I realized I still had something to live for."

She shivered again. The thought of that day served as a constant reminder to her of how life was short and she had to live her life while she still could. Yet she still hadn't acted upon those feelings. It had been two years, and she was still in the same place she had started. Nothing had changed. Except now, finally she was certain of one thing.

"I do love him. I've been denying it for so long, that it's difficult for me to admit it now, but I do. I have for some time now. I've pretended I didn't so that I wouldn't have to deal with the other things. Like Shampoo, Ukyo, Kodachi, Kuno… And then the thing that frightens me most of all, the thought that maybe he doesn't feel the same. But he has to, right? I mean, he told me so much in Jusendo. I know he said it, or at least thought it. Whatever it was he did, I heard him. And sometimes I can see it in his eyes. In the way he protects me, the way he gets jealous over me, the way he'll do anything to comfort me when I cry, even in the way he gets angry at me." She smiled. "But yet, what if it's just because of our fathers that we're together at all? What if their constant pushing is responsible for fabricating our feelings for each other? Can an arranged marriage like this really be successful? I just don't see how. 

"I've always wanted to have a happy marriage like you and Dad had. Not an awkward relationship that was forced upon us. Even if we are in love, and we do get married, how much time will we waste in our own awkwardness and stubbornness, refusing to accept each other and be happy? And how would we get married in the first place with all of our rivals always getting in the way. It just all seems so impossible. I wish I could be like you, Mom. You were so strong. You'd never let anything get in your way like this. I'm strong too, but I'm nothing compared to you, and sometimes I wish I could trade all my martial arts skills for the strength to tell Ranma how I really feel."

She looked back down at the paper in her hand and smiled. "But I'm going to try harder Mom. Somehow I'll figure it out. Just watch and see." She felt the cold wind brush her face, as if in response and she slowly turned to go. As she did, she felt for a moment that someone was watching her, but then the feeling disappeared. She looked around her and scanned her surroundings just to be sure, but she saw no one. She laughed at her own jumpiness and glanced at her watch as she slowly left the park, looking back at the tree one last time. "I'd better get going. Still have one more place to go…" 

* * * *

Ranma had followed Akane all the way to the small park she was visiting. When she had stopped in front of a cherry blossom tree, he had hid behind another tree nearby to watch. "What's she doing?" he wondered. He had been surprised to say the least when she started talking to the tree. Yet as she continued he began to understand. She was talking to her mother. Suddenly he felt rather silly, as if he were intruding on something important, which in fact was exactly what he was he doing. 

Ranma hadn't thought about it very much, but he suddenly realized what Akane must have felt like having lost her mother at such a young age. For a long time he had been without his mother as well, and Akane had always been there to comfort him when he was bothered by it. Yet he had never done the same for her. Never helped her to deal with the loss of her mother. Even though he realized he hadn't been around when it happened, he knew that Akane still must have been hurt by it. Ranma had his mother back now, but he knew Akane never would. He remembered how much he wanted to be with his mother, and realized how much it would hurt him if he were to lose her again. 

Ranma wished he could comfort her in some way, but he didn't know how, and he wasn't even free to approach her at the moment. Instead he merely watched Akane. Somehow she didn't seem so sad. It was more like she was talking to an old friend whom she hadn't seen in years. There were traces of sadness in her eyes every now and then, and he could see tears glistening on her face, but somehow he knew that they weren't shed for her mother but for something else. 

He waited and watched her as she stood there for quite some time, no desire in him wanting to move. There was something peaceful and surreal about the scene before him. He felt as if he could finally understand a bit more about Akane by watching her that morning. After a long time she turned to leave. She looked around for a moment as if she had sensed his presence and he made his aura fade so that he would disappear from her senses. Giving up on locating him, she stopped for a moment longer to look at the tree and then left the park. 

Ranma no longer had the desire to follow her. There was something else he wanted to do instead. After he was satisfied that Akane was gone, he emerged from his hiding place and made his way over to the tree. The first thing he noticed were the initials carved on the tree. He smiled, tracing them as he had seen Akane do. 

He looked from side to side self consciously and cleared his throat. "Ahem. Um, hi there. I'm Ranma Saotome. I'm, uh Akane's fiancée I guess." He felt kind of stupid. It was one thing to talk to someone's grave, but a tree? And standing there he began to realize he didn't really know what he was going to say anyway. So he just started talking, letting his thoughts tumble out of his mouth unchecked. "We've never met or anything, but I live with the Tendos. Sometimes it feels like there's someone else there that's not accounted for. I can only assume that it's you, watching over them all. And then I can see your presence and your influence in so many things. All three of your daughters, they were all effected by you in a different way. Kasumi's the sweetest girl anyone could ever hope to meet, and she does an excellent job taking care of everyone and the house. And she's a wonderful cook too! Nabiki's strong in her own sort of way. And she's absolutely brilliant, though she's kind of hard to get along with or trust. Still, she's likeable in her own sort of way. And then there's Akane." He smiled. "Kasumi often comments just how much she's like you. If that's true, you must have been a remarkable woman.

"I know that me and Akane are only engaged because our fathers forced us into it, but still, I want to do everything in my power to make her happy. I don't know if I'm worthy of having her love. Actually I can't really imagine anyone who is, but I hope you would have approved of me. Coming here to Kyoto and really being able to get to know her, even if it was under false pretenses, simply serves to confirm just how much I care for her. That I really do love her." He smiled realizing that was the first time he'd admitted it out loud with such confidence. "Anyway, I promise that from this day on I'll do everything I can to make her happy, as she deserves. And I hope that you will accept me as a fitting husband for her, that is if she accepts me at all. And also, I'm very grateful to you, and always will be, for bringing Akane into this world. I can't imagine my life without her, and I don't even like to try to picture it."

He came to a halt and shuffled his feet nervously, not knowing what else to say. "Anyway, um, it was nice talking to you I guess. So, um goodbye." 

Ranma turned to leave, still not completely sure what to do next. After walking a little ways he stopped and turned back towards the tree as an idea occurred to him. After a second he smiled a little and made up his mind. 

* * * *

End of Chapter 4

Author Notes: 

**General** - This chapter is the main reason why I haven't posted the whole story earlier. Originally I had it written so that Akane went to see her mother's grave while in Kyoto. Unfortunately after I had written the story I saw the episode where the Tendos and Ranma and his father go and visit Akane's mother's grave. This kind of ruined some of my ideas and I had to change a lot of my story because of it. It took me a while to think of an alternate scenario because I didn't want to cut a lot of the dialog I had already written. I thought of leaving the scene as it was, but I didn't think I could do that because one of my main goals with my stories is to remain true to the original Ranma 1/2 plot. So I was depressed and left the story alone and unposted for a really long time. Eventually I came up with the idea for the cherry blossom tree. I kind of like it better this way anyway. I'm assuming in this story that Akane's mother, Ayame Higarashi, grew up in Kyoto and met Soun there.

**Chapters** - Hey guess what? It's looking like just two more chapters after this one! After changing my scenario from the grave scene to the cherry blossom tree scene I got a really good idea for my ending. I had already written it but now I think I might change it a little bit. So chapter 5 will probably be out within my usual two days, but chapter 6 might be a little later. Sorry!

**Reviews** - *Gulp* Apparently I'm getting death threats now. Good thing I've already written the story or I might not survive to finish it. I'm just glad no one's threatened me about finishing _Love Vanished Once, Regrettably _considering that story is taking me forever to finish. Plus I took a break from it to work on this! But yeah, please don't kill me! Then you'll never get to know how this story ends! And thank you to everyone that has actually taken the time to read _Missing You_. I absolutely love hearing your reviews and am very flattered by all of your compliments. I'm very happy that my story has been so well received. Keep reviewing and I'll keep getting my chapters out as fast as possible. Anyway, that's all for now. Ja ne!


	5. Phone Calls and Revelations

After leaving the park, Akane got on the subway and made her way to the northern edges of Kyoto. She got off at her destination and began to walk the short distance to the place she intended to visit. She walked down a street and stopped in front of an extremely large and elaborate traditional Japanese style home with the name of Kurashi on the plaque hanging at the door. It hadn't been very hard to find, even though she'd only visited the home a few times. After all, it was the type of place you didn't forget about very easily. 

She made her way through the gate and past the beautiful Zen garden that had been arranged in the entryway. As she reached the front door she took a deep breath and knocked. After a few moments a short servant answered the door and looked at Akane curiously. "May I help you?"

"It's me, Mayuka. Akane Tendo, remember?"

The maid blinked for a moment and then a wide smile spread on her face. "Akane Dear! Oh do come in! What brings you to Kyoto?" she asked while ushering her into the house.

"Well, I'm just taking a bit of a vacation is all," Akane responded as Mayuka led her into the front room where guests were received. 

"Oh, how nice! The mistress will be overjoyed to see you! You wait here a moment while I go and get her." With that, the maid excused herself and left the room. Akane cautiously walked around the room, examining the décor of the elaborate house. She stopped when she reached the far wall and examined a picture hanging on it. The picture was of Akane's mother and her two sisters, Noriko and Kimiko when they were teenagers. Akane smiled as she observed the picture of her mother. Ayame had been the youngest of the Higarashi children, just like Akane had been the youngest of the Tendo girls. However, that wasn't the only similarity between the two. Ayame had been full of life, and she had practiced martial arts, just like Akane. Their looks were similar as well. However, in the picture, Ayame still had long hair, although she had cut it later after marrying Soun Tendo. Despite that, they still looked very much alike. They had the same eyes, the hair was the same bluish color and they were around the same height as well.

"I never realized just how much she did look like me," Akane mused out loud.

"Indeed she did," spoke a voice from behind her.

Akane spun around to face an older but beautiful woman in a green and blue kimono. Akane smiled and ran over to hug the woman. "Auntie Noriko, it's so good to see you again."

"You too Akane. And how is my favorite niece?"

"Oh, well, you know. Been busy. I just graduated from high school," Akane said as the two of them had a seat at the tea table and Mayuka returned bringing in a tray of tea.

"Oh how wonderful! My but you girls sure grew up fast. So then, what brings you all the way here to Kyoto?"

Akane looked down into her tea. She still didn't know exactly what she was doing visiting her Aunt Noriko. It was nice to see her, but she wasn't sure how detailed she wanted to get about recent events in her life. "I, uh just needed a bit of break from things and all, so I figured I'd come to Kyoto." Noriko nodded in a manner that showed that she understood everything Akane had said, and everything she hadn't said. 

"Oh! By the way, I got an invitation for your wedding last week, unfortunately I wasn't able to attend. However, judging by the fact that you're here in Kyoto alone, I assume it was another failure, hmm?"

Akane continued to look down into her tea. She nodded her head slightly and muttered a meek, "Uh huh."

"Oh, Honey, come here," Noriko said, scooting next to Akane and pulling her into a close embrace. "It's okay Dear, you don't want to get married like that anyway, do you?"

"I-I guess not," she sobbed softly into her aunt's shoulder. "But if I don't marry Ranma, who else am I going to marry?"

"Well, Dear, you're young and you're beautiful, you could have your choice of any boy out there." She looked at Akane who didn't seem all that comforted by her words. In fact she appeared to be even more distressed. "Yet I suspect that's not the problem, is it?" Noriko smiled. "He's special isn't he?"

Akane hesitated for a moment and then merely nodded. "But it'll never work," she whispered, more to herself than her aunt.

"And why not?"

"Because! He has several other girls that have just as strong of a claim to him as I do, for one thing."

"I wouldn't say that. The one who has the strongest claim is the one that he loves, right? And that would be you."

Akane sighed and pouted. "What if he doesn't love me?"

"Akane," Noriko said sternly. "Don't tell me you honestly believe he doesn't?"

"I-I don't know what to believe anymore. Sometimes I think he does. But he's never said so. At least not out loud. And he's always chasing after other girls, and he says I'm un-cute. Not to mention he left Nerima right after the wedding."

"Sometimes boys are a little dense. And they're not good at admitting their feelings. However, just because he doesn't tell you he loves you, doesn't mean he doesn't. And as for the other girls, if he really cared for them, I'm sure he would have already run off with one of them by now. And he probably calls you un-cute because he likes you. Some guys tend to tease the girls they like. As for him leaving, he'll be back. Trust me. He probably just needed some time to clear his mind. When he does return, maybe you'll be pleased with the results."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, why do you think he left?"

"Well, the note apparently said that he needed to think or something…"

"There you go! See, he went off to decide what he was going to do next. When he comes back, you might find that his thinking has done him some good. Maybe he'll finally resolve things between you and the other girls."

Akane creased her brow. "You think so?"

"Hey, I may not be an expert on males in general, but I am a terrific judge of character."

Akane knew she was right. Not much could get past her aunt. Akane had been a lot like Ayame, and Nabiki had been just like her Aunt Noriko. Akane smiled a little. "Maybe you're right."

"Of course I am." Noriko was glad to see she was getting through to the girl and cheering her up a bit, but then Akane frowned again. "Okay, what is it now?"

"It's nothing really."

"Oh don't give me that, I can see right through you Akane Tendo."

Akane sighed. "Well, it's just that, supposing Ranma and I do get married, okay? Well, still, it's just all so… so…"

"Unromantic?"

Akane blinked. "Well, yeah I guess that's the word. I mean, it's just that we already had the worst first meeting in the history of the world. Shouldn't your first meeting with the guy you're going to be with forever be something special or something? Not one of the worst moments of your life. And our first kiss! For crying out loud, he thought he was a cat at the time! Although I guess maybe that one didn't really count. And it's not like he's ever going to propose to me, seeing as we're already engaged. So what's left? I don't see our wedding ceremony being something all that enjoyable should we ever even get married."

Noriko stifled a giggled. "You know it's funny. I had this exact same conversation with your mother some years back, before she married your father. And I'll tell you the exact same thing I told her. It's not the first meeting or the proposal or even the wedding that is romantic. It's the little things that happen when you least expect them, the random occurrences of every day. The way he gets jealous when you're with another guy and denies it later. Those times when you catch him looking at you from across the room and the way he gets nervous when you finally notice. The excitement that goes through you when you accidentally bump into each other or touch for a brief moment. Or the way he tries to cheer you up when you're upset. Now that's real romance. Not some planned out storyline of how love should be. It's different for every person, and that's what makes it so special."

Akane looked thoughtful for a moment and began to smile a little. Then a thought crossed her mind. "You said you had this conversation with my mother?" she asked, slightly confused.

"Yes, a long time ago."

"But I thought that my mom and dad were always pretty close."

"Oh goodness no. They fought all the time for a while. Three years actually, until they finally admitted their feelings for each other. We all knew that they liked each other though, but they had to keep up the pretense so that they wouldn't be forced into getting married."

"What do you mean, forced into getting married?"

"Well the engagement of course."

"Huh?"

"Don't tell me you didn't know it was an arranged marriage?"

"A what?" Akane asked, shocked.

"Why of course! I was sure you knew that. Their father's arranged for them to be married when they were children. When they grew up and found out that they were engaged they fought the whole arrangement nonstop. But their father's kept pushing and pushing."

"But Mom always gave the impression that they got married of their own freewill."

"Well, technically they did. You see, after they admitted their feelings for each other, their father's tried to push for them to get married right away, but they didn't want to get married like that. So, your dad proposed to your mother himself one day and the two ran off and eloped. No outside influences at all. They got married because they loved each other, not because their parents made them."

"R-Really? That's so beautiful!"

"It was. Sure shocked the rest of us though. And it would've been nice to see my own sisters wedding, but I can respect their decision. So you see now? They didn't have a big fancy wedding or anything. Their relationship was nothing like you'd read about in a romance novel or see in a movie. Yet it's the kind of relationship you've wanted your whole life. Now ask yourself why you've longed for all of that? Is it because it was terribly romantic, according to the world's standards? No, it was because they loved each other very much. And there's nothing wrong with wanting the kind of love they shared. After all, that's true romance."

Akane grew thoughtful at her aunt's words. Noriko watched her young niece with interest as she digested her advice. After they had finished their tea a wicked grin spread on Noriko's face.

"Now. My guess is you've been doing nothing during your stay here in Kyoto but sit around in your hotel room and pout. Am I right?"

"No! That's not true! I went to the hot spring at my hotel and talked to a very nice boy," Akane said triumphantly, proud at being able to prove her aunt wrong.

"Oh really?" Noriko was not entirely convinced. "And I'm sure the two of you had a nice, upbeat conversation about the weather, hmm?" she asked in a sarcastic tone.

Akane sulked slightly feeling defeated again. "No. We mostly talked about our fiancée's."

"My point exactly. You, my dear, are wasting a perfectly good vacation by sulking! Now, Kyoto is not one of the most popular tourist areas in Japan for nothing! Come! We shall go shopping and tour the great city that is my hometown!" Noriko said in a dramatic voice, while jumping to her feet and pulling Akane with her.

Akane smiled, finding Noriko's playfulness contagious. Yes, she was definitely glad she had come to Kyoto. 

* * * *

Ranma wasn't much for visiting temples, beautiful gardens and imperial palaces. He knew less than the average Japanese teenager about Japan's history, and couldn't have cared less if Kyoto was the only major city to avoid being attacked in World War II. However, he did think the futuristic tower thing looked pretty cool. So while Akane and her aunt Noriko were off investigating the finer points of Kyoto, Ranma spent his day playing video games in the humongous arcade at the famous Kyoto Station. Well, actually, he ran some errands first and worked out the details to his 'plan', but Ranma being Ranma finished those errands and details in less than an hour and had the rest of the day left to eat and do whatever he wanted. He would have gone straight back to the hotel and called 'Ayame' every five minutes until she answered, but she had told him the previous night she would be out until the afternoon, and promised not to leave without saying goodbye. Instead, Ranma had gone out and enjoyed Kyoto, or at least Kyoto's arcade, for a few hours before going back to his hotel... And calling 'Ayame' every five minutes until she finally answered. 

Ranma hung up the phone for the sixth time and glared at it. "Well she sure is taking her sweet time!" He sighed and mentally calmed himself down. "Let's see. I think I took care of everything," he said in a contemplative voice. Then his eyes began to narrow. "Now if only my stupid fiancée would get back!" He sighed and began to run over things in his mind. "It seems like I'm forgetting something." He thought for a while but couldn't quite remember. "Let's see. It had something to do with what 'Ayame' told me last night. Now why was it that she wanted to talk to me last night in the first place? She wanted to thank me for dinner and then… hmm… Oh yeah! She was upset because 'Ranma' left Nerima. That's right. Maybe I should call the Tendos and leave them a message or something." He sat up and reached for the phone.

* * * *

"Alright, it's all set up," Nabiki said as she finished connecting a wire to the telephone."

"Nabiki, what do we need all this stuff for anyway?" Kasumi asked.

"It's a phone tracer. When Akane calls tonight we'll be able to figure out her location."

"And Ranma too?" An excited Shampoo asked from where she stood next to Ukyo who was also looking hopeful.

Nabiki merely rolled her eyes. "Well, he would have to call first. And knowing Ranma that's pretty unlikely…" She trailed off as the phone rang.

"Oh my! That must be Akane!" Kasumi exclaimed as she went to pick up the phone.

"Okay, now be sure to keep her on the phone for at least thirty seconds so I can trace her."

"Alright." Kasumi picked up the phone and Nabiki sat down in front of a small laptop computer that was connected to the phone. "Tendo Residence."

"Hey Kasumi, what's up?"

"Oh, Ranma," Kasumi said sounding slightly disappointed. "How are…" She was cut off as both Shampoo and Ukyo made a mad dash for the phone, an inevitable brawl taking place over the possession of the receiver. Ukyo came out ahead and claimed the phone first. 

"Ranma Honey! Where have you been? I've been worried sick!"

"Oh, hi Ukyo," Ranma said. The indifference in his voice and the use of her regular name made Ukyo more worried than she had been already, but she went on anyway.

"Ranma Honey, when are you going to come back?"

"I don't know yet. We'll see."

"A-are you still mad at me?"

She heard him let out a sigh on the other end of the phone. "I don't know, Ukyo. I guess I just expected more from you."

Tears started to form in her eyes. "R-Ranma, I'm so s-sorry…"

She was cut off as Shampoo finally became tired of waiting and shoved Ukyo out of the way, stealing the receiver from her. "Aiya Ranma! Where you been?"

"Shampoo, give the phone back to Kasumi, I need to talk to her."

Shampoo recoiled a bit in shock from the tone of his voice but she quickly pulled herself together and continued. "You no happy to hear from Shampoo?"

"Of course not!" he shouted. "I thought you'd gotten better since the first wedding but you're just as bad! You went and dragged Ukyo into another one of your stupid schemes and ruined yet another one of my weddings. You two really haven't changed a bit! And I've had enough of all of it. When I do come back, things are going to be a lot different, you understand?"

"R-Ranma, Shampoo no…"

"Enough! I called to talk to the Tendos. Now give the phone back to Kasumi."

Shampoo numbly handed the phone to Kasumi. 

"Hello Ranma." Kasumi said taking the phone.

"Hey Kasumi. Look, I just wanted you to pass a message on to Akane for me."

"Oh, okay Ranma."

"Yeah, when she calls could you just tell her that I called and that I am planning on coming back soon."

"Alright, sure Ranma, but how did you know Akane was gone?"

Ranma almost dropped the phone. _"Shoot! How could I be such an idiot?"_ he thought to himself. He tried to think of some response quickly. "I, uh saw her note when I left," he answered hoping she had left a note.

"Oh. I was kind of hoping you knew where she was," Kasumi responded sounding a little worried.

Ranma felt a little bad lying to Kasumi. "Don't worry Kasumi. Akane's fine, I'm sure of it. Anyway, I should go. I'll be back soon probably. Say hi to everyone for me." 

"Alright Ranma. Enjoy your little trip. Goodbye."

"Got it," Nabiki said as soon as Kasumi had hung up the phone. Shampoo perked up at her announcement and Nabiki smirked. "Now, how much would the two of you be willing to pay for this information?"

"Aiya," Shampoo exclaimed. "Is no price too high!"

"And what about you, Ukyo?" Nabiki asked, her predatory gleam filtering to the forlorn looking chef.

Ukyo thought for a moment. "Nothing."

Shampoo's jaw dropped in surprise. Nabiki's would've dropped as well, but she kept her business face in check and raised her eyebrow instead. "Nothing?"

"You heard me. Ranma said he wanted to be alone. I respect his decision."

Silence filled the room and Ukyo looked at her feet, unable to sustain the shocked expressions on everyone's faces. "Fine," Nabiki finally said. "I'll just give the information to Shampoo then. 50,000 yen, Shampoo."

"Is deal!" She quickly produced the money and handed it to Nabiki who quickly pocketed the change.

"Wait!" Ukyo said suddenly. 

"What you want spatula girl?" 

Ukyo was looking down at the floor sadly. "Shampoo, you heard him. He doesn't want to see us right now."

"It no matter. Ranma Shampoo's husband. Is duty as Amazon woman to…"

"ENOUGH!" Ukyo shouted surprising everyone by her sudden outburst. Shampoo recoiled in shock. Ukyo looked up then with her face streaked with tears. "What about what Ranma wants? Does that matter? He needs some time to himself to come to a decision. We can't go on like this forever, all four of us fighting for him. It's got to end eventually. And I for one am going to wait for him to come back and respect his decision when he returns. Even if he doesn't choose me. Because his happiness is what's really important to me."

Shampoo clenched and unclenched her jaw unsure of what to say. She knew Ukyo was right. As an Amazon it was her duty to make sure Ranma chose her at all costs. However, as a woman it was her duty to allow the man she loved to be happy. She had to decide what she was first, a woman or an Amazon.

Nabiki sighed. "Whatever," she said. No matter what the girl decided she had already been paid. She wasn't about to sit around all day and wait for Shampoo to make up her mind about whether or not she was going to follow Ranma. "Look, Ranma's in Kyoto staying at a hotel called The Jade Rabbit, room 118. Either use the information or not. I couldn't care less." With a wave of her hand she turned and made her way into the kitchen to find herself a snack. Personally she hoped both of the girls would track down Ranma and beat him into a bloody pulp. She wanted him to pay for how he had put her younger sister through so much pain and make him think twice about ever leaving her again. She smiled as she wondered how much Kodachi would pay for the information of his whereabouts.

She exited the room leaving the two girls alone with Kasumi to digest the information. "Well then," Kasumi smiled trying to relieve the grim mood hanging around the room. "Would you two like some tea?"

They both looked up having forgotten for a moment that Kasumi was even there. Murmuring their excuses they both left the Tendo house to return to their respective residences, places that neither of them felt could be called home.

When they had passed the front gate Ukyo stopped. "Shampoo, what are you going to do?"

The purple hair girl stopped, her back to the girl who was both her greatest rival, and strangely enough her closest friend. "Shampoo no know. What about you?"

"I-I'm not sure. Now that I know where he is..." she trailed off. Shampoo nodded. Without a word the two girls turned and went their separate ways, both weighted down with the decision they had to make.

* * * *

Akane hummed to herself as she entered her hotel room. She had a wonderful time with her aunt Noriko, and the older woman had really helped her to put some things into perspective. She felt much better. There were still a few things that concerned her, but for the most part she felt the trip had done her a world of good. "It sure was nice to get away from things for a while." She went to put her shopping bags down in the closet and stopped when her eyes fell upon her suitcase. "But I guess it's time to face reality again." 

She turned away from the closet and plopped down on her futon. "I haven't resolved everything, but at least I've finally realized what my feelings for Ranma are. And I guess I'm feeling a little more confident that he loves me. But there's still the problem of all the other girls." She frowned. "And I still don't know if Ranma's ever going to return." She shook her head. "No, stop thinking like that, Akane. He'll be back. Still, it would probably be better if I were there in Nerima when he gets back. Otherwise he might get discouraged and leave again. Plus it would be nice to be with my family while I'm waiting. I hate being alone. And it's not like there's anything else I can do here. I could think about it for the rest of my life and never come up with a plan to get rid of the other girls. Best thing would be for me to tell Ranma how I feel about him and then we can decide what we're going to do next together. That is, as long as he wants to be with me." She paused and looked at her watch. "I don't really want to rush home today though. I'll go back tomorrow."

She looked over at the phone. "Oh that's right. I promised to say goodbye to Kenji before I left. After all, he was awfully nice. Maybe we could keep in touch or something." Somehow she knew that would most likely be impossible. Akane picked up the phone and called the receptionist that connected her to Kenji's room.

"Hello?" Came the voice on the other end of the phone.

"Kenji, hey. It's me, Ayame."

"Oh hey! Ayame, I was trying to get a hold of you earlier. You must've just gotten back."

"Yeah, just a few minutes ago actually. Anyway, I just wanted to tell you that I'm planning on leaving tomorrow."

"Oh really? That's too bad."

"Yeah, well, I decided to just go home and face things. I can't just stay here in Kyoto forever."

"Yeah I understand I guess."

"But I wanted to say goodbye first. And well... I don't know. I guess it's too much to ask for us to stay in touch or anything."

"What, you mean through letters?"

"I guess. Something like that."

Ranma laughed slightly. "Somehow I don't really think that's going to work."

"Yeah. I know. You're right. I'm going to miss our conversations though."

He didn't respond at first. "I wish..."

He didn't finish his sentence and just grew silent. "You wish what?"

Ranma took a deep breath. "I just wish we could've met under different circumstances. You know, before we were engaged and everything."

Akane blinked. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, don't get me wrong or anything. I love my fiancée very much. I realize that now, and I plan to marry her. But still…"

Akane's heart skipped a few beats. "But still what?"

"Geez, I don't know. It's stupid. I mean we're both engaged and everything. But all that aside, we just connected so well. I've never even seen you face to face since we met in the hot spring. I just wish we weren't engaged, when we met. Because then it would be okay for me to tell you that I... Akane, I love you."

Akane gasped. "Kenji… I-I don't really know what to say. I agree that I definitely felt some kind of connection between us but I…" She trailed off. "Wait a minute. What did you call me?"

Ranma laughed. "What do you mean, what did I call you?"

"You called me Akane."

"Why would I do that?"

"I don't know, why would you?"

"Wow, are you feeling alright, Ayame? There must be something wrong with your hearing. Or is it that you're just trying to change the subject?"

"No! It's not that at all it's just… I could've sworn…" She shook her head. "It must've just been my imagination I guess." At least she thought so. "But anyway, um… What was I saying?"

"I believe you were in the middle of telling me that you don't have those kind of feelings for me."

"Oh. Yeah. I guess so. Sorry Kenji."

"Hey, don't worry about it. It's like I said, I love my fiancée, and I'm going to be perfectly happy with her. I would've still wanted to marry her regardless of what you said. I just thought I should tell you."

"I really am sorry though."

"Just answer me this though. If you'd never been engaged to Ranma, and you and me just met like we did. Two strangers. Maybe gone on a few dates or something. Do you think you could've loved me?"

She paused for a moment before answering. "If-if I never met Ranma... If I wasn't in love with him... Then yes. I think I could've loved you."

Ranma grinned. "Believe me, that's the best possible answer I could've hoped for. So you've decided that you love him then?"

"Yeah, I guess I do."

"Well that's great. I wish you the best of luck."

"Thank you. And I wish you and your fiancée the best of luck as well."

"Thank you very much. Anyway, hey, I still owe you a dinner, and I would like to see you face to face before you leave. How about it?"

Akane smiled. It was her last night in Kyoto. She might as well enjoy it. "That sounds nice."

"Great! I'll meet you at the same place in about an hour, okay?"

"Alright, I'll see you there. Bye." 

Akane hung up the phone and smiled. Somehow, talking to Kenji made her feel so much better about things. "Well, I've got an hour, what else can I do?" She looked at her watch and gasped. "Oh that's right! I was supposed to call Kasumi again." She picked up the phone and dialed the number.

* * * *

"Hey Kasumi?"

"Yes Nabiki?"

"I was just thinking. 'The Jade Rabbit,' that sounds awfully familiar. By any chance, was that the place we were staying when Mom…"

Nabiki didn't complete the sentence and Kasumi didn't finish it for her. She merely nodded her head. "Yes it was."

After a moment Nabiki spoke again. "Man, what are the odds of that happening?" Just then the phone rang again breaking the tension hanging in the room. "Okay," Nabiki said. "That must be Akane. Be sure to keep her on the phone for at least 30 seconds, Kasumi."

Kasumi nodded and picked up the phone. "Tendo residence."

"Hi Kasumi. It's me, Akane."

"Akane! How are you?"

"I'm fine. Um, have you heard anything from Ranma yet?"

"Why yes actually, he just called a few minutes ago." Nabiki's head shot up and she started making gestures towards her sister to stop, but Kasumi wasn't paying any attention.

"Really? Do you know where he is?" Akane asked growing excited.

"Yes actually. He's staying in Kyoto at a hotel called The Jade Rabbit, room number 118."

Akane was shocked. "D-Did you say The Jade Rabbit? Are you absolutely sure?"

"Why yes! Nabiki hooked up this phone tracing machine so we could figure out where the two of you were!" Nabiki moaned and put her head in her hands.

"S-She did? Ah, whoops. I uh have to go Kasumi, bye!" 

"But Akane! Wait!" She cried just as she heard the phone click on the other end. "Oh my. Did you get that Nabiki?"

Nabiki was typing some things out on the computer desperately. Finally she sighed. "No, just five more seconds and we would have had her."

"Oh my. Sorry about that. You think she'll call back?"

"No!" Nabiki said in an icy tone of voice she usually reserved for people other than Kasumi. Kasumi blinked a bit in surprise but remained her normal composed self. Nabiki upon seeing this pushed herself up off the floor. "Sorry," she mumbled making her way up the stairs. 

* * * *

Akane hung up the phone and took a few seconds to digest the information. "Ranma? Here, in Kyoto? And in the same hotel no less! But… how? It can't be right. It's just too much of a coincidence." Deciding to test the newfound information she picked up the phone and dialed the front desk.

"The Jade Rabbit Hotel, can I help you?" asked the young and indifferent voice of the receptionist on the other end of the line.

"Yes, I was wondering if you could tell me if there's a Ranma Saotome staying at this hotel?" Fortunately enough the girl was young and inexperienced and knew nothing about rules and regulations forbidding the exposure of such classified information.

There was the sound of keys clicking and the smack of bubble gum before the girl responded. "Um, nope. No Ranma Saotome is staying here."

Akane couldn't say she really felt surprised. She knew it must have been a mistake after all. She was about to thank the girl and hang up when a thought occurred to her. If Nabiki had to use a phone tracer to track down Ranma, it was unlikely that he had left his real name, or else it would have merely been a matter of hours before she had found him. And after all, she had used a false name, there was no reason to conclude Ranma hadn't as well.

"Okay, then, could you tell me who's staying in room 118?"

The girl sighed in annoyance and went back to her clicking on the keyboard. "Um, it appears that there is a Kenji Saotouyo staying in room 118."

Akane almost dropped the phone in her surprise. "K-Kenji? Saoto…" Her eyes narrowed. Only one person would be stupid enough to come up with a name like Saotouyo. "I'm going to kill him."

She was broken out of her thoughts by the voice of the receptionist. "Hey, you still there? Is there anything else?"

"Huh, oh um, no. Thank you very much." She hung up the phone.

"K-Kenji, is Ranma! Why that jerk! What the hell is he doing in Kyoto? And he said he loved me, when he thought I was Ayame. He was trying to cheat on me! And he was never planning on telling me! Ooh!" She jumped to her feet and ran out of her room, intent on giving Ranma or Kenji or whoever he was claiming to be a piece of her mind. She reached the door, her hand raised ready to knock when she remembered his exact words.

_"Akane, I love you."_

She froze, her hand still poised just about ready to pound on the door. "He- he did say my name. He said he loved _me_! Akane." She gasped and let her hand fall back to her side. "He loves me." A smile touched her face as that thought occurred to her, but the pleasant thought was quickly replaced by a different one. "He knew who I was all along! And he lied about it, why that little…" She glared at the door in frustration, torn between whether or not she should be angry. After all, he did say he loved her... Her anger faltered once again and she smiled slightly. "Alright Ranma. I'll give you a chance. I'll forgive you this time, but you'd better be planning on telling me the truth tonight." She looked at his door one last time. "Guess my only choice is to meet him for dinner and see what he does." 

With that decided, Akane silently slipped back to her room, mumbling about Ranma being a dummy on her way.

* * * *

End of Chapter 5

Author Notes:

**General** - Sorry, this chapter ended up being really long. Hope that was okay for everyone. Anyway, 'The Jade Rabbit' isn't a real hotel in Kyoto, at least not to my knowledge. I could've used a real hotel for the story, but I thought it would be better to use a fictional one because then I can't make the mistake of describing the place incorrectly, like with the hot spring and everything. As I mentioned in a previous chapter, Kyoto Station is a real place. It contrasts with the rest of Kyoto quite drastically because of its futuristic style. I couldn't really see Ranma spending the day looking at temples and stuff, so I had him visiting the arcade at Kyoto Station instead. Probably not the best use of a vacation, but oh well. I threw in the parts about sight seeing because it seemed kind of unrealistic that Ranma and Akane would go to Kyoto and just stay in a hotel the whole time.

**Reviews** - Okay, so there you go. Akane finally knows about Ranma being Kenji! I know a lot of you were expecting for her to slaughter Ranma or something. However, this is two years after the end of the manga. Akane's matured a little bit and her temper's lessened slightly. Plus, she was very angry thinking that Ranma had cheated on her. Fortunately, she realized that he knew it was her. She's still pretty upset that he tricked her, but she's going to give him the chance to confess before she beats him up. Oh, and just to clarify: Yes this story _is _basically finished. However, the two days between chapters is used for me to proof read. I'm very big on being grammatically and culturally correct and I strive to portray everyone as true to their character. I also try to stick to the Ranma 1/2 plot consistently. So I could post the whole thing right now, but it wouldn't be as good. Some of you might not be too bothered about the few errors, but for my own peace of mind I like to get things right. Plus, I've been stalling and working ahead a bit. I had to change a lot of things in the final chapter. And guess what? The next chapter _is _the final chapter! Yea! My story's almost finished! I still need to work on it a bit, but I'm going to try to get it out within my typical two day deadline. However, I may be busy and not get the chance to really work on it. So I may be a little late. Once again, thank you everyone for your kind reviews. I've never gotten such wonderful feedback for anything I've written. Thank you so much... Ja ne!


	6. Kissing You

A/N: Here it is people! The final chapter of _Missing You_! Sorry it's so late! Please enjoy and be sure to review. Also, please read or at least browse the author notes at the end and let me know what you think about my ideas for adding on to this story.

* * * *

Akane looked at herself in the mirror and frowned. She grabbed a hair brush and frantically combed through her hair. Quite suddenly she froze and stared at herself in horror. "Ah! What in the world am I doing?" She began pacing around. "This is not like me at all! Why am I so nervous? It's Ranma! Just Ranma! The same Ranma that's seen me almost every day for the past two and a half years. He's seen me right before going to bed, he's seen me right after I've woken up! He's seen me when I'm sick, he's seen me when I'm angry, and he's seen me in that old karate gi of mine more often than I care to count. So why am I so freaked out about how I look _now_?" Her pacing and ranting were brought to a sudden halt as she caught sight of herself in the mirror once more and paused to examine her skirt. "Maybe I should change my outfit again... Ah! There I go again." She threw her arms up in the air and turned to sit down on her futon.

"Okay Akane, calm down. Just breathe." She did just that and after a few moments felt the tension leaving her body. "Alright, now why am I so nervous about this?" She thought about the question and a blush crept onto her cheeks. "Because he said he loved me." Suddenly another thought occurred to her. "Wh-What if it was all a scheme? What if he knew it was me from the start and was just messing with me to see what I would do?" She frowned. "If that's the case I'll never forgive him." Her face softened again. "But that can't be right. He wouldn't do that. Would he?" She sighed and got to her feet, glancing at her watch as she began to pack a few objects into her handbag.

"Well, I guess I'll know soon enough." Once she'd finished, she turned to look at herself in the mirror one last time. She ran her fingers through her hair briefly and fluffed the ends out. "Okay, I guess I'm as ready as I'll ever be." She made her way to the door and opened it. "I'm off then," she said as she excited the room, closing the door behind her. Ten seconds passed before she rushed back into the room again. "Right after I change my outfit..."

* * * *

Ranma was equally nervous. However, his reasons for being nervous were a lot more complicated than Akane's crisis of what to wear. He paced back in forth around his room practicing his speech for the hundredth time. "Hey Akane, how are you? Yeah, I'm in Kyoto. I uh wanted to get away for a bit. Yeah, I agree, it's a nice city. Oh by the way, I'm Kenji... Ah!" He began to tear at his hair. "She's going to kill me! She's absolutely going to kill me! Maybe I could just not tell her... No, I have to tell her the truth. If she finds out on her own, then I'll really be in trouble. Plus, I need to start being honest with her. I'll tell her. I just hope she'll let me explain before she gets really mad."

He took a deep breath and started over. "Look Akane, there's something I need to tell you, but you have to promise not to get upset and wait until I'm finished, alright? Okay then, here goes. I'm Kenji Saotouyo. Wait, listen first. Now I didn't purposely lie to you. I really didn't know who you were at first, but I told the check in lady my name was Kenji Saotouyo and when you asked I thought it would be a problem if I didn't tell you the same thing. Then when we were supposed to go to dinner I figured out it was you I had been talking to all along. After that I was just going to leave things alone and everything, but then when you called me I got to thinking. I just wanted to see how we could get along without any interferences or anything. I wanted to see if we could actually have a conversation without arguing or something. So I continued the charade. I'm really sorry Akane. I understand if your upset, but please don't be. I meant everything I said to you when I was Kenji. And I really do lo..." He trailed off as he caught a glance at the clock on his wall. "Oh no! I'm late! Dang, now she's _really_ going to kill me." He quickly grabbed his things and rushed out the door, hoping that for once, just once, everything would turn out right.

* * * *

Akane shifted in her seat awkwardly. After changing her outfit several times, an act that she felt was more like something Yuka and Sayuri would do, she had forced herself to be calm and managed to pick out a dress she thought Ranma would like. When she arrived at the restaurant she was only partially surprised to find Ranma wasn't there yet. She sighed. "Guess he's late. Some things never change, I suppose." Her heart was racing and she felt incredibly nervous. "Calm down, Akane. You can't let on that you know." Taking a deep breath she tried to relax and act the same as she had the night before when she thought she was waiting for Kenji. Then she frowned. "I hope he's not planning on standing me up again." Just then there was a voice behind her.

"A-Akane?"

_"Damn,"_ she thought. _"How in the world did he sneak up on me like that?"_ She spun around to face Ranma pretending to be surprised.

"R-Ranma! What are you doing here?"

"Just getting away for a little while," he shrugged. Akane nodded.

"Yeah, I know, I just talked to Kasumi a little while ago."

"You did?"

"Yep. She said that you had called and were planning on going home soon."

_"Oh yeah, and then of course the part about you staying here in Kyoto,"_ she mentally added to herself.

"Well, yeah I was. Um, can I sit down?"

"Oh! Of course. How silly of me. Go ahead." She said motioning to the chair across from her. 

"Thanks. You weren't expecting anyone were you?"

"No one important."

Ranma blinked a little as if hurt and Akane had to try not to laugh. "Oh. I see."

"Well, actually, he should have been here by now. I don't think he's going to show up. It's no big deal. I'd much rather be here with you." She smiled sweetly.

Ranma seemed a little caught off guard by her remark, but satisfied none the less. _"Maybe this won't be so hard after all,"_ he thought.

"Wow," Akane started. "Sorry, this is just so weird. I mean what are the odds that we both ended up in Kyoto and went to the exact same restaurant on the exact same night?"

Ranma shifted slightly in his seat, his speech suddenly forgotten. "Um, yeah, about that... I'm really sorry to have tricked you and all, Akane but..."

As he trailed off, Akane gave him an encouraging smile. "It's okay Ranma, you can tell me." 

He looked at her, took a deep breath and began. "Akane, I'm K-"

"Ah well hello there," said a voice behind them. Ranma turned around to see the waiter from the previous night and turned completely white. "Well if it isn't Miss Ayame Higarashi and Mr. Kenji Saotouyo." 

_"NO!"_ Ranma mentally screamed. _"It was going so well! She's going to kill me, she's going to kill me, she's going to…"_

"Actually, those aren't our real names." Akane said surprising Ranma. "My name's Akane Tendo and this is Ranma Saotome."

Ranma sat there with a stupid look on his face, frozen in shock.

"Ah, alright then. That explains a lot of things. Like the name Saotouyo for instance."

Akane giggled. "Yeah, only Ranma here would be stupid enough to come up with a name like that." If Ranma hadn't been busy trying to get his brain to catch up with his mouth he probably would've resented that remark.

The waiter laughed as well. "Well then, can I get you two anything to drink?"

"Um, water's fine for me. Oh and some tea would be nice," Akane said. "What about you Ranma?" 

"What?"

"To drink, Ranma. What are you having?"

"Oh, um… The same, I guess."

"Very good, I'll be right back." As soon as he was gone Akane began to giggle. 

"You knew?" Ranma said, finally breaking out of his shock.

"Yes, but only for about an hour. Like I said, I called home before I came here and Kasumi told me."

"But, I didn't tell them I was here."

"Yeah, Nabiki had some kind of phone tracer set up and they found out where you were."

"Oh," he said, not so surprised. Then his eyes widened. "Oh! Oh no, Shampoo and Ukyo were there when I called, they must be half way here by now!"

"Are you sure? They weren't there when I called. At least I don't think so."

"Just great! They must've already been on their way by then."

"Don't worry Ranma, we're leaving tomorrow anyway, right? I highly doubt they'll get here tonight, and besides, we don't know for sure that they're coming anyway."

"I guess so," he said relaxing a little. 

"So now, how long have you known?" Akane asked him.

Ranma immediately tensed up again. "Um, well, not until we were supposed to meet for dinner the other night..." He looked at Akane cautiously. "You-You're not mad at me are you?"

"I was at first, but I've kind of calmed down. Just one thing. Why did you do it?"

Ranma took a deep breath and began. "Well, remember when we were talking in the hot spring and we said that we wished our first meeting had gone better?" Akane nodded. "Well, after I figured out it was you I was talking to I began to realize that we had kind of been given a chance to meet all over again. So I wanted to see if we could actually get along without fighting. I wanted to see if we were compatible at all."

"Oh." Akane said simply. It made sense. "So, um, what did you decide?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I mean are we... compatible?"

Unfortunately Akane wouldn't receive her answer at that moment, because just when Ranma was about to respond the waiter returned with their drinks.

"Here we are," the waiter said placing the water on the table and pouring tea into their cups. "Now, are we ready to order?"

"Um, actually, can we have a few more minutes..." Akane began, wanting to continue her conversation with Ranma before eating.

"Yes!" Ranma shouted a little too eagerly. "Um, we're ready! Right Akane?"

"Um, no actually..."

"Hmm, let's see," Ranma said while looking at his menu, completely ignoring Akane's protests. "You know what? I think we'll just get the yakisoba again," he reached across the table and grabbed Akane's menu and then handed both to the waiter. "Oh and do you think you could tell the chef to hurry it up? I'm really hungry."

"Um, yes, of course Sir. Is that okay with you Miss?" He looked at Akane who did not appear very pleased. 

"Fine," she said without taking her eyes from Ranma who was preoccupied with his tea. The waiter quickly left the icy scene. "Ranma!" Akane said the second the waiter had left. "That was rude!"

"What? What'd I do?"

"What'd you do!? You didn't even give me a chance to order!"

"What? You don't want the yakisoba? You should've said something then!"

"I didn't want to make a scene! What are you in such a hurry for?"

He smiled then, causing her anger to deflate. "I have a surprise for you."

"Y-You do? What is it?"

"I can't tell you! It's a surprise!"

"Well then, when do I get my surprise?"

"As soon as we're done with dinner." He leaned across the table then and his grin widened. "So now, do you want me to call back the waiter so you can order something else, or what?"

She smiled as well. "Yakisoba's fine."

* * * *

Akane giggled. "But honestly Ranma, Saotouyo? What on earth were you thinking? And why Kenji?"

Ranma frowned at her teasing. "Give me a break! It's the best I could come up with on such short notice! Besides, I don't think it's that bad!"

"Ranma," Akane said in a stern voice as she looked at him. "Not that bad?"

He considered her for a few moments and then began to laugh as well. "Okay, I guess you're right."

Ranma and Akane had laughed and joked through their entire meal, discussing the conversations they'd had during the previous days. After they had finished eating, they continued their discussion while taking a stroll through the city. Akane asked him questions about what he meant by certain things, and Ranma for the most part was willing to answer her. However, when she asked him questions about what he had meant when he said he loved her, or when he said he wanted to see if they could make a connection, he craftily changed the subject. Akane was slightly annoyed because of this but decided to back off. He couldn't deny it forever, and things were going so well between them that she didn't want to ruin the moment by forcing something out of him. She would just wait until he was ready to say it on his own time. Provided that he didn't take too long.

Akane hadn't been paying much attention to where they had been walking until Ranma stopped and said, "Okay, we're here."

Akane stopped as well, immediately recognizing the familiar park. She slowly walked over to stand in front of the tree where her parents initials were engraved. "How did you..." 

"I'm sorry. I uh, sort of followed you this morning." She spun around to face him but he cut her off before she could say anything. "I'm really, really sorry. I just wanted to know where you were going. Once I realized what you were doing here I backed off. I didn't eavesdrop, honest. And I didn't follow you afterwards. I don't even know where you went." After considering his words she smiled, somehow knowing he was telling her the truth.

"Okay Ranma. I forgive you." She turned back to the the tree, tracing the initials as she had done earlier that day. "You know, this is where my father proposed to my mother."

Ranma was silent for a moment. "He-he did? I just kind of figured this place was special to them." He moved closer to examine the tree better.

"It was. That's why he proposed here. You know, I didn't know it until today, but their marriage was arranged as well."

"Really?"

"Uh huh." She laughed and looked over at him. "Just like us. They used to fight all the time too. But eventually they fell in love. And they were always so happy together. So if they could make it work, I'm sure we could too..." She blushed and looked down, finally realizing what she had said. "That is... assuming that you... if you..."

"Akane, I meant what I said earlier on the phone." It came out smoothly enough but he was blushing furiously.

"Really?" Akane asked, smiling and taking a step closer. She looked up at him with bright eyes. "Which part?" 

"Well, uh all of it. You know what I mean."

She tilted her head to the side and gave him a mischievous grin. "I know, but I want to hear you say it."

"I uh... Well, I uh, you know. Geez, Akane, you know I'm no good at this!" he whined.

Akane placed her hands gently on his cheeks, forcing him to look at her. "Ranma," she said in a soft voice. "You what?"

He looked into her eyes and took a deep breath. "I love you."

Immediately she broke into a brilliant smile. "I love you too Ranma." 

As soon as the words had left her mouth, he dipped his head and pressed his lips against hers.

Akane let out a faint gasp and stumbled backwards slightly, caught off guard by the suddenness of his embrace. However, he wrapped his arms tightly around her waist, refusing to let her break away as his kiss intensified, growing more urgent with every passing moment. In turn, she wrapped her arms around his neck, slowly giving in to the longing they had denied for almost three years. As the kiss grew impossibly deep, her mind began to numb and she was only vaguely aware that Ranma was leading her backwards and slightly to the right. She giggled and titled her head backwards slightly, breaking away from the kiss. "What are you doing?"

"Kissing you," he said matter of factly as he leaned in to continue the action. 

She giggled again and tilted her head slightly to the left so that his lips met the side of her face instead. "I can see that," she said in a breathless voice as his lips continued to trail down towards her neck. "But where are we going?" she asked as he continued to lead her backwards.

"Ummm," he murmured in a slightly distracted voice, his eyes darting to the side briefly. "Oh yeah. I forgot." He placed his hands firmly on her hips and quickly turned her about ninety degrees to the right. "Okay," he said, looking into her eyes, his voice suddenly serious. "Question."

"Um, okay."

"What do we do next?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know. Do we go home? Get married? What?"

Akane frowned. "I-I don't know."

"I think we should call off the engagement."

"Y-You do?" Akane asked, suddenly feeling as if her world had shattered. "You don't want to marry me?" she choked out.

"No, no, no! I didn't mean it like that. It's just that... Well, I fell in love with you because of who you are, not because we were forced together. It's just that if we do get married, I want it to be of our own free will. Not because our parents made us. Understand?"

"I-I guess." She had to fight to keep the tears from her eyes. _ "He doesn't want to marry me..."_ she thought to herself as all her dreams so recently achieved crashed to pieces on the ground.

"So we're agreed then? The engagement's off?"

She nodded numbly, unable to find any words.

He smiled and she felt her heart breaking even deeper. "Good. Now that that's taken care of..." He moved to the side, out of her line of sight. She gasped and her hands fluttered to her mouth as her eyes fell upon the tree he had been standing in front of. There, carved in the bark of a young cherry blossom tree was a heart with the words, "Akane, will you marry me?" inside.

Despite his practiced calm, a very nervous Ranma stood to the side and watched as Akane continued to stare at the tree. "Ahem," he finally said, unable to remain patient any longer. "So um, will you?"

"Yes!" she shouted, as she spun to face him. It was Ranma's turn to stumble backwards, as Akane threw her arms around him and began showering him with kisses. 

"A-A-Akane!" He protested between kisses as she continued to push him backwards. Suddenly he tripped over a root and crashed to the ground with Akane on top of him. "Ooof!"

"Oh! Ranma, I'm so sorry! Are you alright? I'm such a klutz!"

"Yeah, you sure are," he said as he sat up with Akane pressed against his chest. He looked into her eyes and smiled. "Although I can't say that I mind." Akane smiled back at him. "Oh, by the way. I can't believe I almost forgot. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small black box. "This is, uh for you." He opened the box to reveal a diamond ring and Akane gasped in delight.

"It's so beautiful," she exclaimed. "How did you ever manage to pay for this?" she asked as he removed the ring from the box and carefully placed it on her finger.

"Well, I've kind of been saving up for a while. Two years actually." He shifted uncomfortably. "That reminds me though, you're paying for the trip home."

Akane laughed. "I think I've got a better idea."

* * * *

Nabiki was just about to pack up all the telephone tracing equipment when the phone rang. She looked around but no one was there to answer the phone so she picked it up herself.

"Hello?"

"Hey Nabiki? It's me, Akane."

"Akane! Hey," she said as she frantically reached over to the computer and clicked a few buttons to trace the call.

"Hey Sis, just wanted to ask a quick question. Did Dad have a honeymoon set up for Ranma and me?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Well, I was wondering if you could send me the money that was set aside for it."

"Um... Okay. But why?"

"Well, because I'm getting married."

"You're getting married? To whom?"

"Oh, just someone I ran into here."

"Akane, wait! Don't you think that's a little sudden?"

"No, not really. I've thought about it and this is what I want."

"But Akane, what about Ranma?"

"Oh, don't worry about him. He'll be okay with it."

"Akane, you're making a big mistake! Ranma loves you and…" Just then she heard the computer beep. She looked at the screen and gasped.

"Oh shoot! That's right, I completely forgot about the phone tracer." Akane sighed. "Oh well, I suspect you won't have a problem with sending me the money now, right? Just don't tell anyone, okay? I want it to be a surprise."

"Sure thing, Sis," Nabiki said, her wits returning. "So you're eloping then?"

"Yeah well, we figured it was the only way we could actually have a wedding without any interferences."

"Well, I suggest you go somewhere else. Ranma's other fiancée's already know where he's at."

"Yeah, we know. That's what we need the money for. Anyway, we should be back in um... Hey Ranma? How long do you think we should be gone?" There was a pause and then Akane giggled before going back to the phone. "Um, yeah. We'll just be in touch."

"Sounds good," Nabiki smirked. "Take your time and all. I'll wire the money to the hotel as soon as possible."

"Okay, thanks Nabiki. And remember, it's a secret."

"Yeah, yeah, it'll cost you though."

Akane sighed. "Yeah I know."

"Just kidding Sis. My treat. You just have fun alright? And good luck."

"Thanks Nabiki. Say hi to everyone. Bye!"

Nabiki hung up the phone. She shook her head from side to side as she made her way up the stairs, unable to contain the smile that was spreading across her face. "Well, it's about time!"

* * * *

The End

Author Notes: (Please read...)

**General** - Yea! It's finally finished! Sorry I was late getting chapter 6 out. I ran into a miniature writer's block because at the last second I decided to totally rewrite the ending. Plus I was really busy this week. Chapter 6 also turned out being a lot longer than I had initially planned. I doubt anyone really minds though. I could've split it up, but I'd already promised chapter 6 would be the final chapter. Anyway, I realize that I left a few things unresolved with this story. Ranma still hasn't taken care of his other fiancées for one thing. Instead of Akane and Ranma facing their problems head on they're kind of just running away. However, it's tough to think of any other realistic solutions. The main story is definitely complete. I'm not going to ruin what I consider to be a good story by dragging out the ending. But if you're interested in me going into more detail on certain issues read on...

**Epilogues? Prequel? Side Story?** - I have ideas for epilogues, a prequel and a side story. The epilogues would deal with the other characters of Ranma 1/2. This would tie up some of the things I left out of my story. The prequel would be about Ayame Higarashi and Soun Tendo and their life before getting married. The side story is the only thing that would really deal with Ranma and Akane. It would be a crossover. I don't know if any of you recognized the name 'Higarashi' or not from another manga by Rumiko Takahashi. If you did, this wasn't accidental, I did it on purpose. So review and let me know if you want me to actually take up any of these projects. Please keep in mind, it would be a long time before I could actually do this. As I've mentioned numerous times before, the only reason I was so good at updating this story was because most of it had already been written. Plus, there are several other stories I'm currently working on. But if your interested in any of these ideas, please review and let me know what you think and I'll consider working on them.

**Other Stories** - Several of you mentioned that you hope I keep writing. Actually this isn't my first story. I've written several other shorter stories that are posted here on fanfiction.net. You might want to check them out either by clicking on my profile and browsing my stories or by going to my website at http://www.geocities.com/t3nd0d0j0. _ Missing You_ is the first chapter story I've actually completed. I am working on another chapter story called_ Love Vanished Once, Regrettably_. It's a lot more complicated than this story. _Missing You_ is mostly a romantic, slightly waffy fic. However, _Love Vanished Once, Regrettably_ has a lot more depth. It has plenty of romance, but includes some action as well. Plus I added a few characters. It is a work in progress though, so it won't be updated as frequently as this story was. Anyway, I have three chapters up for that and chapter four should be coming out fairly soon. So feel free to check that story out as well as some of my other works.

**To Sum Up** - Anyway, that's all. I really enjoyed writing this story and I loved reading all of your reviews. Please let me know what you think of the final chapter, the story in general and the ideas for future stories that I mentioned above. Thanks again to everyone for reading my story. Ja ne!


End file.
